Lyrical Nanoha: Time Destruction
by FlutterChaos
Summary: A new evil and a new enemy confronting Nanoha and her friends when Scarglietti is found dead in his cell. Elements of time-travel and an addition to the StrikerS timeline for everyone. Hope to be action-heavy plus NanoFate.
1. Prologue

_Orbital Detention Facility 045X  
TSA Territorial Airspace  
Holding Area Of Jail Scaglietti_

The footsteps echoed against the faint, cool colourless walls of the cell in which Scaglietti was imprisoned. He was not afraid. The Legion knew well the scent of fear, for all that emotion twisted it and masked it into something unrecognisable. No, Scaglietti did not fear death. Perhaps he could sense the brimming lifeforms of the combat cyborgs in planets far from here, his creations, born from _his_ genius. For as long as even one of them breathed and lived, the criminal feared nothing.

Scaglietti's eyes were on the Legion as it watched him, eyes fixed upon the base of his neck. His mind surged, almost uncontrollable, with possibilities and answers. Anything.

The door had not opened to admit his new "visitor". No, this creature had emerged silently from the air itself. It reminded of Scaglietti's of Sei's ability to forge gateways through stone and steel, through ceilings and walls.

He felt the laughter welling up his throat as he laid substance to his words.

"You are not one of mine," he chuckled.

Metal hissed against metal as fingers coalesced into a steel-like drill. The Legion raised an outstretched arm which ended in a perfectly smooth and constructed series of spikes, reaching out for the prisoner's head. This would not be quick, nor would it be without excessive pain, but it would most certainly be efficient.

Scaglietti was still laughing, in fits on the ground of the cell, laughing fit to burst. He clutched at his stomach, the shackles and binds on his body barely holding him together.

"Combat cyborgs!" he exclaimed, gasping for breath. "Sent to kill...me!_ Me!_ The irony of it..." The mad smile slashed across the side of his face for a second, disappeared and then was replaced by swift cunning. "Go on, cyborg. Do it. End my life." The mad chuckle built up deep inside his throat again, threatening to overtake him completely. "And when you do, I will live again once more – inside the bodies of my own creations! Free! Free to begin my plans once anew! Do it, cyborg – I have been waiting for this!"

The Legion stared at him for a moment, its unblinking eyes hidden deep inside the black husks of its own artificial features. It's AI cautioned it against conversation with its own victims, but the alien's own reasoning took precedent. It could do no harm.

"Negative," the creature said mechanically. Its voice was human and pleasant to the ear, but not the nature in which it spoke. "The TSA has neglected to tell you of all the facts. Your copies are deceased."

Scaglietti's right side of his face twitched spasmodically for an instant. "Deceased?" he repeated. "My combat cyborgs live on still, mechanoid. As will I!"

"True," intoned the Legion, taking a step forward. "Many of the combat cyborgs from the JS Incident are alive and well. However...as you were so willing to tell Fate Testerossa of how you intended to resurrect yourself, the TSA had prior warning of the copies lodged inside your creations." It paused for a moment as if to readjust the scope of the drilling arm. "Your "copies" have been removed from the bodies of all of the combat cyborgs by the TSA itself."

Uncertainty flashed across the criminal's face for an instant, wavering. "That's impossible," he muttered, "...impossible. Yes. I had it all planned!" The laughter came back to his eyes in an instant. "My copies could not have been removed. I made sure of that!"

"Negative," said the Legion with deadly certainty. "The TSA did not want to take the risk of you coming back in a world where one of your creations currently ran free. And not all of your cyborgs were entirely comfortable with having to prolong your life, in light of recent events. There are no copies, Jail Scaglietti. The only body you have is the one you are living in right now." The drill-arm came up to shoulder level. "You will not be coming back."

For the first time, the familiar stench of fear was ever-present in the cell. Scaglietti stared at the cyborg in front of him for a moment – was it even a cyborg? It didn't act anything like any of his own creations at all – as the helplessness of the situation dawned on him. At the same time, he didn't give in, didn't scream out for help or for the guards. The madness flickering in the inside maintained the illusion that the words he were hearing were lies. He couldn't die. He was going to live on. His _science_ had to live on -

_"__Extended Skull Bind.__"_

Savage chains shot out of the walls around Scaglietti, binding his neck and head in position. Panic and confusion struck him at this kind of move – there was a high-level AMF constantly in effect in his cell at all times. A spell of this kind shouldn't be possible...and why...Scaglietti was already bound by his shackles. Why did the creature want to bind his head?...instead of just killing him once and for all?...

"Cyborgs don't use high-class mage spells," he breathed through his constricted air passages. "What...why are you..."

The Legion lowered its right hand, the incantation complete. "My purpose here is not primarily to end your life," it said. "The effects of my actions, however, will not allow you to live."

"Wh-what...what do you - "

The drill-arm spun rapidly and reached out towards Scaglietti's forehead. "My client wishes to acquire your brain, Jail Scaglietti. It will not be kept alive, but we would prefer that it was kept warm."

The rapidly-moving machinery descended into the side of the criminal's head as the mad scientist struggled in the grip of the binds in vain. Blood spattered the walls of the cell and the screams began in mounting agony. Yet not one sound escaped the small confined room, blanketed out by silencing spells wielded by the Legion's right arm. In less than a minute, there was only silence.


	2. The Wedding

**Chapter 1: The Wedding**

_Important Announcement To All Mages And Officers Of Riot Force 6!_

_The Time-Space Bureau is pleased to announce that the wedding of Captain Takamachi Nanoha and Enforcer Fate Testarossa will be taking place this coming month at the Church of Hayate._

_Please keep all prior engagements with the Church to the minimum notice period until the confirmation for this occasion has come through. All former members of Riot Force 6 will be issued an invitation shortly, plus any additional close relations of the brides, so please keep an eye out for that._

_Coming soon to a wedding near you!_

_P.S. Bring presents for Vivio._

The brightly-coloured poster covered a considerable section of the outside of Yagami Hayate's office that morning. There was a large group of young mages clustered around it, chattering to each other excitedly, not least because the poster also included a slightly-flattering picture of Nanoha and Fate on the bottom.

Tiana Lanstar had to crane her neck and then stand on tiptoe to see over the heads of the rookie mages who were now all blocking the corridor. She knew who they were, recognised the faces. They were all young trainees who had trained under Nanoha or Fate, had grown to respect and admire and love the couple, and right now they were gushing over Hayate's poster.

"Subaru, the entire corridor is packed full of fangirls," she complained. "We're going to be late if we take this route."

Her blue-haired companion had a glazed smile on her face, stars in her eyes. She gave no indication that she had taken in a single word.

"Subaru?" Tiana replied, giving her a firm prod. "Hey! Are you listening to me?"

Subaru shook her head, still looking dazed. She sometimes zoned out whilst Tiana was speaking, but today she looked especially scatter-brained.

"They're getting _married,_ Tia," she said blissfully, all her body language screaming the danger signs of being Lovestruck. "_Married. _It's so beautiful..."

Great. As if the path wasn't blocked with dozens of fans of Nanoha and Fate, Subaru had opted to join in on their side. Reluctantly, Tiana resigned herself to her fate. Everyone looked up to the Three Aces. After all, she deeply admired Takamachi Nanoha herself after the scene she had made long ago whilst training to be a Striker. It didn't mean she had to stand here fawning over her captain's wedding. The poster didn't even give a specific date.

Tiana frowned and tried to push forward to look at the poster again. Something about it didn't seem quite right. Several dozen apprentice mages prevented her from being able to see too far ahead, and she felt her hackles rise in irritation. She didn't want to push hew way through the crowd too forcibly; she might not be able to get out again.

"Subaru, don't you think it's strange?" she said suspiciously. "Nanoha-san and Fate-san haven't said a word about this to us."

The short-haired mage closed her eyes, her face trembling with emotion. "Maybe they wanted it to be a surprise," she whispered.

Tiana sighed. "I guess you're right," she said reluctantly. "Nanoha-san wouldn't announce her wedding unless she really was getting marri- "

"What's this about my wedding, Tiana?" a soft familiar voice said from behind her.

The redhead jumped and the two girls spun around to see Nanoha standing there in her regular combat instructor's uniform, smiling easily at them. There was no sign of Fate accompanying her. She seemed to have no idea about the disruption further on down the hall.

Instinctively, Tiana stood to attention and zipped her mouth shut. Mentioning anything like this to Nanoha would be completely the wrong idea-

"We just heard that you and Fate-san are getting married!" Subaru said excitedly, skipping forward like an ecstatic schoolgirl. "Congratulaions!"

_Damn it Subaru._

"Married?" the combat instructor repeated slowly. A rapid flush was spreading throughout her cheeks, and when she spoke there was an abrupt dryness to her voice. "To...to Fate...?"

_I knew it, _Tiana thought in disgust, with a quick glare at Subaru. _She doesn't know about it after all. Which means..._

"Did you...who..." Nanoha regained her composure with an effort, gripping the sides of her clothes tightly. "Who told you that I was getting married?"

Tiana jerked her head over to the squabbling crowd assembled outside Hayate's office. "The poster's been up on the door for the last few hours."

She had just a brief glimpse of Nanoha's face switching between sheer terror, utmost confusion and sudden realisation before the captain brushed forward ahead of them, pushing her way through the crowd to Hayate's office. Her brow was set and she looked incredibly annoyed at the entire affair.

Almost immediately she was swamped by rookie mages all bursting to know the news firsthand.

"Nanoha-san! Are you and Fate-san really...?"

"Nanoha, Nanoha-san! Can I come to the wedding? Am I invited? I'm so happy for you, I just want to - "

"Oh my gosh, Nanoha-san! Congratulations! Can I be one of the bridesmaids if Vita is still ill? Can I - ?"

"Everyone," Nanoha said to the trainee mages patiently, raising her voice to be heard, "please do not crowd the hallway like this. You have training sessions to attend."

She pushed her way into Hayate's office and closed the door quietly but firmly behind her, leaving an awed murmuring in her wake.

Subaru shrugged and smiled at Tiana. "I'm so happy for them."

With a snort, the red-haired mage dug her elbow sharply into her friend's ribs.

"Ow!" Subaru rubbed her side painfully. "What did you do that for?"

Tiana shook her head. She couldn't be bothered to explain everything all over again, about how unlikely it was that there was any real wedding in progress, at how Nanoha had looked like she was going to have a heart attack just then, let alone what Fate would think..."Let's just go, Subaru," she said, pulling her friend along through the gap in the crowd. "We're _late._"

* * *

_Planetary Off-Worlder Rehabilitation Centre  
Sector H58K4  
Specialist Unit For Cybernetic Organisms_

Ginga Nakijima had the colours at her disposal, monitors and terminal flashing in front of the two combat cyborgs who watched attentively as she drew up data and information for their current session. As the manager of the cyborg rehabilitation centre, and as a previous combat cyborg herself, she had the sympathies and respect of her current subjects.

"Subjects", yes. The thought brought a smile to her face as she connected into the main framework of the facility to beam Cinque's and Sei's personal progress reports directly on-screen. Not too long ago they had been trying to kill each other. And she...she had almost killed Subaru. Her sister. Her own flesh and blood. Distinctly, Ginga forced the memories from her mind. That was all in the past. Scaglietti had long since been put away, and the task at hand was to give his creations the life they hadn't been allowed to have.

"Cinque, Sei." Ginga smiled kindly at the two of them, her current priority. It was hard to remember all of their names, but these two in particular had made the greatest progress so far. Cinque was the small girl with long-white hair and an eyepatch; Subaru had fought her once. And Sei, of course, was known for her ability to pass through any solid substance; floor, walls, ceiling, water, be what it may. The two of them were no longer clothed in the dark blue of Scaglietti's combat designs, but in natural human clothing.

She cleared her throat and flicked several switches on the monitors in front of her. "The two of you are doing really well in your rehabilitation period. I have the results from the psychological tests from yesterday." They showed very high readings, a promising sign which could lead to their release from the clinic and perhaps even adoption into normal society. "Sei, can I ask you about your test first?"

The blue-haired cyborg tossed her hair back, cheerful as ever, it seemed. "The diagrammatical scope?"

Ginga nodded. "I asked you to tell me what was the first word that entered your head when you looked at it." Sei's results appeared on the screen next to her, upon which was written a single word: BEAUTY. "Why did you write that? It's a hard question, I know. But try to answer."

The cyborg crossed her legs and brought the side of her hand down her cheek. "I saw a picture of two people who were in love."

"And love is beautiful?" Ginga pressed attentively.

Sei shrugged good-naturedly. "It reminded me of my sisters."

"Cinque, what do you think?" Ginga turned towards the surly white-haired girl who had kept silent so far. "You wrote something different. But that's okay. There isn't any right or wrong answer. It's how you perceive it." Cinque's result sheet swirled on the monitor on her right, on which the word "LONELINESS" was framed in small undeveloped handwriting. "What's your thought process?"

Cinque gazed at her as if looking into a mirror. "I saw two people who looked sad."

Ginga raised an eyebrow. "Even though they're together?"

"They can be together and not be happy," the cyborg said quietly. "Just like - " A sudden fierce light came into her eye and her mouth fell open slightly. "Ow," she muttered, as Ginga looked on concernedly. "Headache," she said quickly, warding away kindly arms. "I'm fine."

Ginga walked over to her and felt the skin of her forehead tenderly. Her temperature was normal. On the first day, if she had ever made skin contact with any of the combat cyborgs, they would have become withdrawn for hours on end.

"Are you sure you're all right?" she said gently.

"I have a headache, too," Sei said uneasily.

"Wait - "

"He's gone," Cinque said numbly, her hands falling away to her sides, eyes trailing the floor. "I can feel it. Sei, you should be able to feel it too."

The blue-haired girl nodded slowly.

Ginga got to her feet unsteadily, not understanding. "Whatever are the pair of you talking about?" she said. "Do you feel well?"

"We're fine," Sei said in a near whisper, her hands gripping the sides of her chair tightly. "But..._he_...is gone."

"Our creator," Cinque breathed, bringing her face back up to eye-level. "Doctor Scaglietti...he is no more."

Ginga stared at both of them in disbelief for a moment, then whirled around and flashed her hands across the computer monitors, searching through the framework. There was only one reason why her subjects would speak like this. And she had a bad feeling about what they were saying. Verification wasn't far away.

* * *

Yagami Hayate had moved into working in Special Operations with the army after the disbanding of Riot Force 6. With her primary dream realised, it was as if she had achieved everything she wanted. The JS Incident was behind her, the Saint's Cradle had been destroyed, and the Lost Logias were no longer a threat to the stability of the TSA...

But it wasn't that way at all. It came with power, power that others relied on, bringing with it a distinct loneliness which had toyed with Hayate for some time. Until she had come to think of the times before Riot Force 6 as nostalgic. The times she spent with Nanoha and Fate, who even now were far away from her and would prefer to spend their time with Vivio or on more important things...

_Nanoha,_ she thought sadly, adding another domino to the tower on her desk. _It would be good to see you and Fate again._

The door flew open and Nanoha burst in with perfect timing.

"Hayate, why are Fate and me getting married?" she asked breathlessly. "What's going on?"

The short-haired mage at the desk added a fourteenth domino to the tower with a dreamy-like expression on her face. "It's great to see you too," she murmured, rubbing her eyes.

Nanoha vanished out of the room for a moment and then re-appeared holding the wedding poster which had been plastered on the door. "Hayate, I'm serious! Wh...why is there a wedding going on? _My_ wedding? I don't know anything about this!" She was starting to panic. "Did Fate do this? Did I give her too many false signals and she got the wrong idea?!"

"Um, Nanoha..." Hayate yawned tiredly and stood up from behind her desk. "I'm not sure it's exactly like - "

"Maybe it was that scene with Vivio last week," Nanoha babbled, pacing up and down. "When Vivio said the two of us were like a married couple, and maybe when I gave that look to Vivio which meant _eat your greens,_ maybe Fate thought I was aiming at _her_, and misread it as a signal that I should be - "

"Maybe," Hayate said heavily. "Or maybe one of your other friends set the whole thing up because she misses having you around."

The long-haired combat instructor looked at her quizzically for a moment, then frowned at the poster. Then she stared at Hayate again.

"Hayate, it was all _your_ idea...?"

The former commander of Riot Force 6 avoided her gaze shyly. "It was just a joke to get your attention a little," she said awkwardly, brushing her arm against the taller woman. "I didn't mean to worry you..."

Nanoha's face creased in sympathy. "Hayate, you don't have to do that," she said warmly, drawing her friend into a tight embrace. "Fate and I can always make time for you. It's just that...well, Fate's with the Interstellar Navigation Bureau now as an Enforcer. We don't have as much time with each other, let alone with you..." She sighed, rubbing her head against Hayate's shoulder. "And you just seem to be so busy all the time."

"I'm not busy," Hayate said emphatically. "Do you know what I'm doing now?" She eased herself out of the hug and slumped back in front of her desk again. "Ask me what I'm doing now."

"Well, what are you doi- "

Hayate leaned forward suddenly and brought her face nose-to-nose with hers. "I am making a _domino tower,_" she whispered dramatically. She tossed a fifteenth domino onto the pile and it all came crashing down spectacularly.

"But," Nanoha pursued urgently, "I thought you were working in Special Operations with- "

"I was. And I am." The mage prodded the pile of dominoes sadly. "But I wasn't enjoying myself. There was something missing." She sat up straight for a moment, her eyes looking far away into the past. "Nanoha, when I was leading Riot Force 6, it was a dream, a passion of mine that I wanted to realise. I had drive. I had energy. But now?" She stood two dominoes up on their sides, staring at them wistfully. "Now it's like I don't have the motivation anymore. I'm working for a cause that I'm not passionate about. I'm playing dominoes with myself on my day off."

"Oh, Hayate," Nanoha said gently, stroking her neck tenderly. "You should have told us. You don't have to feel demotivated all the time. What you need is..." She thought about this for a second. "You need another dream to work towards."

Hayate's eyes lit up. "That's true. I could do that." She stood up and tapped the side of her head for a moment, thinking. "But Riot Force 6 was my first real dream. I only have one dream left."

"That's still something," Nanoha said with a faint smile. "So what is this other dream?"

"Um..." Her friend hesitated for a second. "To build an army of lesbians."

The two of them stared at each other for a few moments.

"I've already got an army of lesbians, haven't I?" she said mournfully.

Sadly, Nanoha nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid so. Don't despair!" she said quickly as Hayate slumped her head back onto her desk again. "You've got friends. Contacts! And me and Fate! We can meet up for a drink tomorrow and we can talk like old times!"

"Let's hope so," Hayate said heavily. She looked genuinely distraught. "I'm sorry for making a fake wedding for you, Nanoha. I hope Fate isn't angry at me..."

"Fate won't be angry at you, Hayate. I was just surprised, that was all." _And I was scared that Fate really wanted to marry me. Especially with Vivio..._Nanoha repressed a shudder. She could feel her face getting hot just at the thought. But Hayate really was lonely after all this time. And she shouldn't have to be. She had the Wolkenritter to protect her, her friends, but with so much work to do all at once and everyone's priorities, it seemed that in the end she was left alone. She needed Nanoha and Fate by her side more than ever.

Even Hayate's office seemed empty. Her desk was right at the corner of the wall, next to Rein's smaller desk with-

_Wait a second. Rein?..._

"Hayate?" Nanoha said in a puzzled tone. "Why isn't Rein here? Isn't she supposed to be always working with you?"

"Oh, Rein," Hayate replied off-handedly. "She's a bit pre-occupied. She fell in the toilet."

_"What?"_

"It was my fault. I'm sorry." The short-haired mage wiped a tear from her eye. "I was trying to lift the seat and talk to her at the same time, and I accidentally smacked her and she fell in."

Nanoha stared at her friend in wide-eyed astonishment. Clearly Hayate was having a worse day than usual.

"Hayate, Rein is a high-ranking unison device and your personal second!" she said frantically. "You can't just leave her floating in the toilet!"

"It's fine. I managed to fish her out with a stick." Hayate blew at one of the dominoes and watched it fly off the edge of the table. "Actually, she's wrapped in the soggy toilet paper by the windowsill. Don't touch it," she warned before Nanoha could move. "She's still condensing back to normal."

The main buzzer sounded in the distance, signalling the end of the morning training session. Both girls perked up at the sound. Reluctantly, Nanoha turned to go. She had her own duties to attend to, as much as she wanted to stay with Hayate and catch up with her.

"Hayate, I'll see you later," she said, looking straight into her friend's sad hazel eyes. "That's a promise. I'm not just saying that. I'll talk to Fate the instant I get home and the three of us will go out tomorrow for lunch." She reached over and hugged Hayate tightly, feeling the barest touch of the embrace returned. "I'm not going to let one of my best friends feel lonely around me."

Hayate managed a soft smile. "Thanks..." she murmured softly, though a part of her felt like she didn't want to believe it. But that was just absurd. Nanoha was always there for her. Her, and Fate. She always had been. "Thanks, Nanoha."

Sadly, she watched the door close shut, listening to the sound of Nanoha's footsteps gradually fade away. She'd needed to talk to someone. Nanoha, more than anyone else. It already felt better to get her feelings out to one of her closest friends. The rest of the "people" she saw everyday – Mariel, the generals in the army, Vice, even Tiana – they were always good to her. But she couldn't confide in them. She couldn't tell them her secrets. It was a truth that was getting her down more and more by the day.

Hayate turned back to the window with a sigh, looking out into the open daylight.

_ "Finally,"_ hissed a voice like black acid rising up behind her. _"I thought she'd never leave._"

She spun around, the cross of Reinforce in her hand as the hidden figure moved across the back of the office and crouched into a foreign fighting stance. The sign of a pentagram opened out beneath its feet. The sign of a mage.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "How do you get in here? What are you doi- "

The figure vanished from the edge of her vision, chanting under its breath.

_"__Chronological Time Switch.__"_

A black finger stabbed at the back of her neck and Hayate felt the spell slam into her body, crumpling as she staggered forward and hit the floor. Her vision blurred and the world swam across her eyes, her mind sifting as if in a dream. Her last thoughts were of Nanoha and Fate as she lost consciousness completely.

**Okay, that's the first chapter, which I think will be more representative of the entire fic than just the intro. I may have made this a bit too long, I'm not sure.**

**This is actually my first try at writing something in this style. I usually go for shipfics and romance but seeing as Lyrical Nanoha is full of action I thought I'd try this too. Also, most of my fics tend to be a bit quirky and have a silly sense of humour places (hence Hayate's behaviour in this chapter), so that'll be part of it.**

**Hope you like it so far! Please review if you can :)**


	3. Change

The light of red and orange streaking in from the beautiful sunset through the kitchen window glistened on Vivio's face as her mother moved the brush down, combing her hair, making her beautiful. One green eye, one red, blinking unsteadily as she smiled, chewing the last of the food on her plate. At least, almost all of the food. Vivio had never wanted to finish her greens. It was always Nanoha who ended up making sure that she finished everything.

Fate Testarossa finished combing her daughter's hair, straightening out all of the uneven parts so that her blonde strands sifted about elegantly down her shoulders. "Vivio?" she said.

"Fate-mama?"

"What have I said about eating with your mouth open?" Fate folded her arms crossly. "And you haven't finished your greens again."

Vivio pouted, scrunching her face up. It was becoming a habit. "But Mama - "

"No buts, Vivio." Fate kneeled down next to her, wiping the food stains off her mouth with a napkin affectionately. "What does Nanoha-mama say about eating with your mouth open?"

Vivio looked down at the large mound of vegetables that had stacked up. It was not a happy sight. "Nanoha-mama says that if I eat with my mouth open..." She fidgeted and kicked her legs out from underneath the chair.

"...then they'll fall out," Fate finished for her with a smile. "So, please eat all your greens for Nanoha-mama, Vivio? If not for me?"

She sighed and left her daughter alone for the time being, watching her busily eat her way through the cold vegetables. Nanoha had always been better at getting Vivio to listen to her. But after all, she was the one who Vivio really looked up to. The one who she had clung to after being stranded and alone without anyone to help her.

But Nanoha could be strict sometimes, and in those cases Vivio clung to Fate when she wanted comfort and affection. _I've been spending more and more time around her lately,_ Fate thought, watching her child finish eating and go to roll on the floor to play. Yes. _Her_ child. With Nanoha. It hadn't started off that way, and maybe Hayate had said it as a joke at first, but now it almost felt like they'd made their own happy family.

Erio and Caro had been her first "children". Fate had mothered them with kindness and love from the beginning as if they were her own. It was her past which made her want to reach out to other children who had been hurt by their families, cast out and led astray. In the end, Erio and Caro could stand up by themselves, even though they still looked up to her and admired her. Maybe Fate still thought of them as her children.

But it was Vivio who was the present now, the child that she would bring up with Nanoha. _She looks just like the two of us. As if we'd conceived her ourselves. If you asked anyone right now, nobody would have ever thought that she was adopted._

"Fate-mama?"

Fate looked up, jolted out of her thoughts. "What is it, Vivio?"

Her daughter's eyes were sad and full of wanting. "Is Nanoha-mama going to come home soon?"

The blonde mage reached over and lifted Vivio onto her lap, her arms around her small waist. "Yes," she promised the little girl. "Nanoha-mama is coming home any minute now." She felt Vivio cling to her arm for comfort, and felt a twinge of pain in her heart. "She's late, but Nanoha-mama wouldn't let Vivio worry about her, would she, Vivio?"

"She's late," Vivio mumbled into her hand. "She - "

"Vivio, I'll play with you until Nanoha-mama comes home," Fate said quickly, soothingly, smoothing down the child's hair soothingly, trying to relax her. She could feel the anxiety pass through her body, and understood it all too well. "Would Vivio like that? Do you want to play with Fate-mama?" She cupped Vivio's cheek, and her daughter looked up into her eyes, almost questioningly. "We can play your favourite game if you like."

Vivio bit her lip, looking like she was going to pout again. "Okay," she said, not looking too convinced. "But Nanoha-mama has to come home soon."

It was over an hour later, well after sunset, when the front door opened again. Relief flooded Fate's body and Vivio leaped up with a cry of "Nanoha-mama, you're back!" to throw herself into the arms of her other mother. Exhausted, Fate lay back on the sofa. Entertaining a depressed-looking Vivio for that amount of time took more out of her than she thought. She was going to have to have words with Nanoha about this.

"Vivio, I'm so sorry I'm late," the brunette mage said in hushed tones, carrying her ecstatic daughter in her arms who was refusing to let go of her. "My shift overran and I had to see Shari and Mariel off at the main branch when they were closing up." She kissed the child on the forehead. "Vivio wasn't lonely, was she?"

The little girl stuck her nose up defiantly. "I had Fate-mama with me," she said.

Nanoha didn't miss the long look that Fate was giving her over by the sofa. Gingerly, she managed to put Vivio down long enough to kiss her girlfriend on the lips. It didn't have quite the desired effect. Fate's face softened, but she still looked relatively unhappy.

"Vivio, do you want to watch some TV with me and Fate-mama?" she said, trying to cheer all of them up. "Maybe some of your favourite cartoons or anime?"

Vivio's eyes lit up excitedly. "Only if you'll watch it with me."

"Of course I will, Vivio," Nanoha said. "Nanoha-mama has to get herself something to eat first, because she's had a long day at work - "

"Fate-mama has Nanoha-mama's food already ready in the fridge," Fate sighed.

" - and then Nanoha-mama will sit down to watch anything you like with Vivio and Fate-mama! How does that sound?"

Vivio squealed into her shoulder and dove for the remote, flicking it on. Gently, Fate switched it up a few channels until it came up to what seemed to be some kind of mahou shoujo anime. Magical girls fighting evil, that kind of thing. Vivio seemed to recognise it and settled down to watch.

Pushing down her frustration, Fate went after Nanoha in the kitchen. This couldn't go on. She couldn't bear to see Vivio like that for much longer. The brunette mage was standing with her back to her, taking her food out of the fridge. It had actually been cooked a few hours ago, back when Nanoha was _supposed_ to have come home.

Nanoha turned round and saw her, the look in Fate's eyes wiping the smile off her face in a moment.

"Are you angry at me?" she said, distraught. "For coming home so late?"

Fate shook her head and said nothing.

"Vivio missed me, didn't she?" Nanoha set down the cold plate in her hand. "I'm sorry, Fate. I really am. I don't want to see Vivio sad either. But everytime something always happens, or I have to put in an extra shift to see that the training programme is completely perfect, or - "

Fate sighed and took her hands in her own. "No, Nanoha," she said quietly, "you _don't_ have to." She could feel the pain in her lover's face without even having to look at her. "It's not your fault. It was different before, when all we had were each other and worked in Riot Force 6 and it didn't matter if we threw ourselves into everything we did." She gazed into Nanoha's blue eyes with distinct sadness, brushing away a strand of her brunette hair away with one hand. "But now...Nanoha, we've got Vivio. We've got a _child."_

"I know," Nanoha whispered.

Fate kissed her forehead softly. "She counts every minute that you're late by. You've...you've been coming home late for two weeks, Nanoha." She blinked away the inkling of tears. "It breaks my heart to see Vivio like this." _It broke my heart a long time to feel like that, too._

Wordlessly, Nanoha hugged her tightly, pressing her face against hers, close enough for their skin to touch each other. "I'm sorry," she said tightly, her eyes wet. "You're right. I can't keep coming home to see Vivio like this." Her lips brushed against Fate's. "It's harder...harder than I thought, being a mother." She blinked away the tears, then hardened her resolve, her eyes brightening. "But I'm going to do it. Starting tomorrow. I won't come home late anymore."

"Don't tell that to me," Fate said, not quite keeping the bitterness out of her voice. "Tell that to Vivio."

"I will. I'll do that right now. I promise." Nanoha locked her mouth against hers, blue pupils staring into red, feeling Fate's body react against her. A sign of forgiveness. She felt terrible about the whole situation. First Hayate was feeling lonely because Nanoha and Fate hadn't seen her in a while. Now Vivio was getting upset because she, Nanoha, was never home on time. And now...Fate.

_This is my fault. And I'm going to change this. First I'll tell Vivio that I'll – no, don't think about it. Just _do_ it._

"She's waiting for you," Fate said under her breath.

Without another word, Nanoha walked back into the living room, settling herself down next to her daughter. She brushed a tear from her cheek, hoping Vivio wouldn't say it. "What are you watching, Vivio?"

Vivio shrugged. "Magical girls," she said excitedly, her eyes glued to the screen.

Nanoha sighed and put an arm around the girl. She took a deep breath, wondering how she was going to say this. Maybe it wasn't the right setting whilst the TV was on? Maybe she should tell her another ti-

Fate shot a look at her which could melt daggers which said worlds more than anything they had discussed in the kitchen. Nervously, Nanoha gulped and pressed forward. "Vivio..." She cleared her throat. "Vivio, Nanoha-mama isn't going to come home late anymore. Nanoha-mama was being selfish and she's very sorry for making you feel alone." She hugged Vivio tightly. "That's a promise, Vivio."

Vivio looked up at her, trembling, looking as if she was going to burst into tears at any moment. "You really promise?" she said.

"I really do," Nanoha whispered. "So don't be sad for me anymore, Vivio. Okay?"

She felt the little girl's shoulders shake in her embrace, and lifted her up as Vivio buried her face into her hair emotionally. At the same time, she felt a sense of acceptance in the other direction. It was the first steps she could take right now.

Nanoha looked up, hoping to see an approving response from Fate. Instead, her girlfriend's lips were set in the format of _Don't you dare go back on anything you said, ever._

No going back, now. For definite.

She eased Vivio back onto the couch between the two of them. "Let's just watch your anime, okay? We're missing the show."

"Okay," Vivio said happily, bouncing on the sofa in the middle.

Is this a good time to mention Hayate right now? Nanoha thought. Fate still doesn't look like she's forgiven me...if I even said _anything_ about the mock wedding that was going on..._No,_ she decided resolutely. _If I say anything about a pretend wedding, Fate might start thinking I want the real thing. And I don't. I don't think I do. Maybe...maybe it's too soon, with Vivio and – _She mentally hit herself in the forehead for arguing with herself. This was stupid.

"Hayate wants us to get married," she said out loud without thinking.

Fate sat up bolt upright. "What?" she said, staring straight at her.

Petrified, Nanoha clamped both hands over her mouth and rolled sideways onto the sofa. "Nothing," she babbled nonsensically, hoping the couch would swallow her up completely. "Nothing. Nandemonai. I said nothing. Nothing! Let's just watch anime."

* * *

The hiss of blades slicing through straw was a continuous plow through the temporary silence. The trainee bent her form forward, bringing her weapon up, twisting sideways to defend and lashing out with the flat of the blade against the dummy with a wooden _plonk._ Repeating the same moves, she jumped backwards a few steps to bring herself back into an attacking stance, slicing the sword around in a solid circle to remove the dummy's head. Straw flew in all directions as its head was deposited neatly on the ground.

Signum of the Wolkenritter thrust her own sword forward, Leviathan, catching the dummy's inanimate head upon the tip. "Good. Very good. Your footwork needs practice, but your aim and precision is well developed." She motioned around at the other trainees. "You may find it useful to practice with a partner on that part. Even the greatest Velka Knight didn't get where they were by practising alone."

"Thank you, Signum-sensei," the trainee said thankfully, bowing her head. "You are an apt instructor."

Signum watched her go, wearing a sour expression. _Signum-sensei._ She disliked being referred to as a "sensei" in any shape or form whatsoever. When she'd told Fate that she wasn't exactly cut out to be a combat instructor, she had been quite serious. There was a measure of enjoyment to what she was doing, in helping the lesser mages how to fight in the style of the Velka Knights, but Signum still couldn't shake the notion that this all felt like a waste of time.

_Vita, you're the one who's supposed to be doing this, not me. I'm teaching mages how to use techniques that they probably won't be able to use on the front line. They need the training that only you can supply. In the end, what's the point in _any _of this?_

Grudgingly she moved onto the next group of trainees, who were desperately hacking at their own straw dummies with painfully blunt swords. Just watching them made Signum want to cover her ears and block out the sound.

"Signum! Hey, Signum!"

She averted her eyes from the sight of desperation to see Tiana and Subaru rushing up to meet her. Erio and Caro too, running at their side, waving at her. They were a thankful distraction, mainly because she probably didn't have to teach them anything.

Signum sheathed Leviathan with the air of someone who did not want to unsheathe their weapon again in a tearing hurry. "It is a pleasure to see you," she greeted them.

"Signum, we've been trying to find anyone in the Wolkenritter all day," Tiana said, as the four forwards came to a halt a short distance away from the Velka Knight. "Have you heard the news?"

The tall red-haired mage shook her head, looking puzzled. "No. What happened?"

"Scaglietti's been found dead in his cell," Subaru said in hushed tones. "Ginga contacted me last night and told me first-hand. Do you think...?"

"He's finally gone? Good," Signum said abrasively. "Now we won't have to worry about fighting him anymore." She wasn't in the best mood to feel like cheering. "Is that really all the news there is?"

Tiana and the other forwards exchanged glances, looking more than a little worried. The four of them usually had limited conversation with Signum as a whole, but nevertheless she was usually a little warmer towards them. It didn't help that Signum had been the one who had whacked Tiana in the face before, although then again that had been a different situation altogether.

"Signum, what are you doing teaching in Vita's squadron?" Subaru said, confused. As a former trainee of Vita, she recognised all too well this part of the compound. "I thought Fate-san said that you didn't like teaching combat..."

"She did, and she was right," Signum said with relish. "The only thing I can teach anyone is how to hack someone to death with a sword. And swords as devices are no longer as common as they used to be. Nobody here has a clue about how to even hold one." She glanced over her shoulder at the doomed trainee who had dropped their own sword on their foot, and winced. "But what was I expecting? These are the mages that were training under Vita, after all."

"You're taking over Vita's trainees?" Erio said, surprise in his voice.

"No, I'm _substituting_ for her whilst she's in hospital. She shouldn't be in there at all, but Shamal is refusing to let her out." The Velka's Knight miserable expression showed just what her stance on this matter was. "I tried talking to her, but you know what the medical team is like: they constantly act like you're dying on your feet."

"But Vita's in _hospital?_" Caro said urgently, wide-eyed in concern. "Is she going to be okay? What's wrong with her?"

Signum snorted. "She didn't want me to tell anyone. She's a bit embarrassed by what she's got, to be honest. It's not something that kills people." She spread her arms out wide in an open-ended fashion. "But if you want to know, you could accompany to the hospital right now. I'm going to pay her a visit before her trainees' incompetence drives me out of what's left of my mind."

The forwards looked up at her with a mixture of curiosity and sympathy. At first glance it seemed that the Velka Knight was just overworked and exhausted. But when you looked deeper, you'd see that really she was just sick and tired. Sick and tired of not being able to use her skills to her potential like always. She shouldn't be working in this sector.

"Signum, we'd be glad to come visit Vita with you, but are you feeling okay?" Subaru said in a measured tone. "You sound a bit..."

"Yes, I do," the Velka Knight said blandly. "And I'm sorry. I've been teaching newbies how to fight with a blunt stick for the past twenty hours. I'm just a little annoyed, and I would like to get out of here." She swept ahead of them towards the main compound. "Come on. You can write her a nice card on the way if you like, just so long as you don't ask me for a pen."

* * *

The grass was warm beneath her, cool wind ruffling through her hair as Hayate slowly woke up back to reality. She blinked for a few seconds, seeing the entire world in shades of black and white alone, not understanding where she was. What had just happened? She had been...standing in her office with Nanoha. Yes, Nanoha. And then...

And there had been an unwelcome visitor in her office, waiting for their opportunity to attack her. Hayate froze in a stationary position for a moment, but then realised that she didn't sense anyone hostile nearby. She would know. But then why hadn't she been able to detect her attacker?

One thing was for certain: she was no longer in her office.

_Where is this?_

She was outside, but not anywhere near the main army base where she worked. Hayate slowly picked herself up unsteadily, feeling no serious injuries anywhere. Maybe her assailant had just knocked her out, although they had managed to do that without provoking Reinforce's defences was a mystery to her.

The colour of this world was slowly coming into focus. It wasn't...it wasn't anywhere on Mid-childa that she recognised at all. Not on any planet. And Hayate had worked in many different departments of the TSA, travelled to more destinations around the galaxy than most people. She didn't recognise this place.

And at the same time, she felt the far-away pain of nostalgia deep in her stomach...as if she had been here before. As if she had stood on his patch, once, a long time ago.

She was standing on the grass before a low-cut street road leading both ways ahead of her. Hayate hesitated, not knowing whether she should proceed too far when she was standing in unknown territory. But surely the TSA would be active here? As a high-ranking official, she should be able to contact them and find out what was going on and how she could get back to Mid-childa as soon as possible.

The building in front of her was hauntingly familiar. There was a sense of cosiness and comfort about it. Hayate stared at it for a moment, feeling as if she could touch it even at this distance.

_I've been here before. I don't know how or why, but..._

Then she heard the acute sound of voices within. Voices that she recognised. The sound of friends and family. Hayate smiled bitterly at the irony of it; friends and family that she had long missed and -

There were faces at the window and she came closer to see them in greater focus. They were...Velka Knights. Four of them, all dressed in the customary attire. Three mages and one guardian beast. A short girl with dark red hair and a fiery expression, a kind-faced woman with short blonde hair extending down her neck, a tall imposing woman with long red hair and -

_The Wolkenritter?!_

There was no doubt about it. All four members of the Wolkenritter were talking amongst themselves in that house. What were they doing here? Hayate felt a sense of panic wash over her. Had something happened that she couldn't remember? Was that what the blow on her head meant? Had the Wolkenritter been dispatched to rescu-

And then she caught sight of the girl in the downstairs room, and her perception of everything changed in an instant.

The girl downstairs looked like she was only about eleven or twelve years old. She was in a wheelchair and used it to move around the room with very limited mobility. But when Hayate saw her face, it was like looking into a mirror. For the girl _was_ her, in body, mind and spirit. She had the exact same eyes and face as her, only much younger, and the sadness in her expression was more pronounced.

_That's why this house is so familiar. _I'm_ the one in the wheelchair. This is the house I lived in ten years ago when the Wolkenritter came to help me. _

But this was all impossible. Hayate looked down at herself; she was still in uniform, still held Reinforce around her neck in case anything happened. Yet here she was...ten years in the past. Was she in a memory? How could any of this be happening? Could it be that none of this was real?

And worst of all, how would she ever be able to get back?

**New Year's Day chapter! Happy 2013! :D**

**I know the beginning's a bit angsty but I tend to write angst when I try and write romance.  
**


	4. Manipulation

**Sorry if it's taking me longer to update...I have work and stuff D: anyone out there still reading this?**

The sky was bright overhead as metal hissed on human flesh, carving out a path through the air as the arm of a cyborg re-positioned itself, revolving steadily in the narrow light. Artificial skin rapidly sealed up over the machinery, concealing the creature's true nature, yet no move was meant to move out from beyond the shadows. Cautiousness and stealth were key to survival.

The Legion remained solitary and alone, watching the red sky patiently. Its AI module commanded it to remain invisible from mankind for as long as was possible. Blending in into society was not impossible for the Legion, but the flurry of multiple minds did not make for good social contact. The deceit would last not much further than physical appearance.

It seemed like an age before the familiar crackle sounded in the creature's ear canal. Its artificial ear detected the transmission a split second before the human ear did. Tiny signals were sent to the positronic brain to immediately analyse the message.

"My Legion," a woman's voice sounded in its ear, cool and in control. "Good work. Your efforts are particularly commendable."

The Legion gave no answer, given over to its artificial side, which lacked reason. Commands were what it listened to.

"You have successfully delivered the brain of Jail Scaglietti to us," the woman's voice continued on, "and the rewards are already showing fruit. The mind of a madman. Our client promised to put in a good word for you when she heard the nature of your operation." The voice paused as if to savour the image in her head. "Making it seem like Scaglietti committed suicide in his own cell, with his own bindings, and erasing all trace...quite remarkable."

The human side of the Legion, the reasoning, decided to put a word in at this point. "The TSA will not be fooled for long," it said.

"True, my Legion. But time is something that we find ourselves very plentiful in lately." A wry chuckle issued from the end of the line. "Legion, do you know why I have brought you here today?"

The Legion cast its gaze up towards the horizon, staring right into the full glare of the sun without flinching. "My program has possibilities."

"You may recognise this place," the female voice said without emotion. "It was once called Earth, but now the TSA refers to it only as a number, like so many other worlds out there. But it is important to us because of what your next operation entails." A sigh, full of longing, longing and regret. "I must apologise, my Legion. This mission will be quite easy for you. A child could do it. But the timing is crucial."

The Legion waited and said nothing, awaiting the orders that would come.

"Listen closely, my Legion: I have had Exoria bring you here, to this time era in particular, because there is a girl. A girl in a hospital. A girl who will someday prove to be one of the most powerful ages in existence." Systems worked in silence, the crackling over the line increasing by a notch and then fading away again. "I have sent you all the information you need directly to your by-program unit."

It took the work of a moment for the Legion to process all of the data injected into its memory banks. "Takamachi Nanoha," it stated.

"Correct. She has met with an unfortunate accident, not long after joining up with the TSA itself, and is currently hospitalised in the location you stand now." The woman paused for a moment of contemplation. "She recovers, of course, in the future. However, I want you to make sure that such recovery does not happen at all."

The Legion nodded, in deep thought despite its lack of emotions in its better half. In retrospect, such a gesture would not have been detected by its superior.

The woman spoke one more time to the creature. "I'm afraid I must stress once more how important the timing of the assassination is," she said. "Exoria has already taken care of Yagami Hayate and removed her, with the imposter in position. But I am quite sure that that will not delay the planning for too long. Speed is of the essence, my Legion."

"I understand," the Legion said, but the crackling had already disappeared. The connection had been terminated, away with the end of the line. The Legion was alone in the shadows once more.

_Terminate Takamachi Nanoha. Whilst she cannot fight back._

It seemed all too simple. The Legion drew up a list of possible scenarios in its main android cortex, looking through possible outcomes and how the mission might be aborted for any possible reason. Nanoha would be closely watched and well guarded, but guards had never been a major obstruction for the Legion. Powerful mages. Fate Testarossa. The Asura and the company aboard. The Wolkenritter. Yagami Hayate, in this time too.

_Timing is essential._

Silently, the Legion moved out of the shadows and towards the sun, drifting north towards its destination.

* * *

The streets were virtually silent, with barely a soul to be seen. As the wind picked up steadily, whipping against her hair and the hem of her uniform, Hayate felt the sense of isolation she had been feeling for the past few days to increase harshly. She saw a few kids playing across the road in the park, kindly faces drawing near on the path to the shops, but she didn't recognise any of them. The younger Hayate would rarely leave the house back then, except when she really had to.

_I'm home._

Yet it didn't feel like home. Hayate felt like she was in some kind of a ghost town. No, that wasn't quite right. She felt like the ghost herself, unseen and unheard in a perfectly ordinary place to live. She didn't want anyone to see her or know she was there; it felt somewhat _wrong_ to do so. She wasn't supposed to be here, was she? She didn't belong here...she belonged in the future...

The park had been filled with the sound of birdsong and laughter. Hayate didn't hear any of it. She found a discarded newspaper lying abandoned amidst the junk and the litter on the park benches, with one small but very important detail: today's date.

The date on the newspaper was ten years ago. It was proof that, somehow, impossibly, she had travelled backwards in time.

Impossible was right. No mage, no matter how powerful, could travel through time. No one. Even the Lost Logia did not grant anyone that power. It was like trying to make the rain flow upwards, or hold a comet in the palm of your hand. Power wasn't the issue: it just wasn't how time worked.

And yet, here she was now...in an impossible reality. Alone and helpless, stranded by herself and cut off from all possible -

"Hayate! Hayate!"

Startled, the short-haired mage turned to see a familiar figure scoot towards her. Her first reaction was to hide away from them, away from whoever had mistaken her for the other Hayate in the _past_, away from whatever complications would arise -

"Hayate, what are you doing?" Rein cried, hovering in front of her face. The unison device was eye-to-eye with her, small enough to be mistaken for some kind of pet. That is, until you saw that she was a person just like everyone else. "What happened? Where _are_ we? I can't contact the TSA! I can't - "

Hayate stared at her second-in-command for a few seconds, open-mouthed. How was this _possible?_

"Rein, you got sent back _too_?" she said in astonishment.

"Sent back? What are you talking about, Hayate? The last thing I remember was being fished out of the toilet!" Rein irritably brushed herself off, but it seemed that her transition her had brought her back to her senses from the earlier incident. "Sent back where?"

"Back in time," Hayate said with growing anxiety, the words sounding alien in her throat.

Rein started to protest, "But that's impossi - "

The former commander of Riot Force 6 handed her the newspaper without a word. She still hadn't come to terms with being torn away from her own time, even if she was now in somewhere even more familiar. The nostalgia of sweet home and the quaking fear of being trapped here forever threatened to tear her apart.

"Somebody sent us here," Hayate said in a low voice as Rein's disbelieving eyes shot from the date on the newspaper to the low-cut buildings and the simpler culture of the world around them. A world before Riot Force 6 had ever existed. "Somebody sent us back here in time. We've got to get back!"

"Hayate, this is crazy!" Rein protested. The unison device didn't want to believe it. As far as she was concerned, this was just another uncharted world, far from the control of the TSA. She hadn't lived on Earth like Hayate had. She didn't know that she hadn't been born yet. "No one can travel back in time or space! We can't possibly have travelled back to - "

"What about the date on the newspaper then?"

Rein threw it down on the ground, but the panic was rising. "It's faked! It's just a fake to fool us into thinking - "

Hayate shook her head sadly. "There's another younger Hayate living in the house down the road from here. She's me. Just like I lived before. We're in the past, Rein, and we have to get back."

"No!" Rein cried, wide-eyed, in full panic mode now. "It's not true! I won't believe it - !"

Before Hayate could stop her, the unison device had shot off down the road at full speed, disappearing in a flash. _No!_ Hayate screamed in her mind. _We're the only two here in the past! We can't be separated!_

She dashed after Rein, her mind going into overdrive. She didn't blame Rein for running off, although she hoped it was temporary. There had to be a way to get back to the present. There _had_ to be. Whoever had zapped her back ten years had done so for a very good reason, and that made it all the more important that she and Rein had to get back as soon as possible...

Hayate tried to think back to what the TSA had been like ten years ago. No Riot Force 6. Who had been in command? Chrono-kun had been younger back then, with his mother, Lindy Harlaown, and...and...

_The Asura._

That was it. It had to be – she had to contact the Asura as fast as possible and relay her situation to them. Yet how could they possibly help her? The Asura wouldn't know anything different about _time travel._ And she would have to get Lindy to believe their story.

_I've got to try. It's the only thing I can do right now. Fate, Nanoha...wait for me. I still want to meet up with the two of you like we promised._

Her heart in her mouth, she dashed down the street after Rein to put her plan into action.

* * *

Vita lay woozily in the grand hospital bed of the main ward. Her stomach hurt from throwing up, and her eyes were red and puffy from the constant sneezing. She had recovered from worse than this, much worse. It was an insult to her pride that she had to be kept here at all, but when one of the Wolkenritter was in charge of caring for you, and Shamal of all people...

Strange shapes moved in front of her face. Vita focused on the blond one. The eyedrops weren't always working for some reason.

"Shamal, can I go yet?" she mumbled. "I'm all better."

The blonde mage pushed her back down crossly. "You are _not_ all better, Vita. You have to stay here at least another day until you at least recover your muscle co-ordination."

The fiery Velka Knight rubbed her eyes into her pillow and blinked a few more times, seeing more faces pop up around her. She ignored them on account of her half-blindness. "I'm not even supposed to be here! I'm not hurt, I'm not wounded, I don't have a single broken _bone_. I'm wasting away in here and I could be doing much more with the new trainees - "

"Vita-san," said a familiar hushed voice next to Shamal, "are you all right?"

Alarmed, the red-haired mage sat up in bed. The dizziness swam over her head for an instant, and then dissipated for the time being. Ignoring it, Vita stared astounded at the crowd of people around her bed. Subaru, Tiana, Erio, Caro and Signum all stood around her, looking concerned. Vita felt a red flush rise in her cheeks: what in the world were they all _doing_ here? She didn't any more humiliation.

"There are far too many of you here," she muttered, but her heart wasn't really in the words. "I guess Signum dragged all of you along to see me, then."

"We _wanted_ to see you, Vita," Caro said with shining eyes. "I made a card for you."

"That was very nice of you," said the redhead without much enthusiasm, but touched at the sentiment nonetheless. "Where is it?"

"It melted on the way here."

Vita wasn't sure she heard right. "Say again?"

"It was made out of ice-cream. I didn't have much to work with." Caro looked like she was going to cry. "But I put my entire heart into making it, Vita-san. And the sun came down, and it...it..."

Awkwardly, Vita reached over and put her arm around the girl's neck affectionately. She winced in pain as she moved over but the pain hadn't worried her for a long time. "Don't worry about the card, Caro," she said warmly, although her voice sounded hoarse in her throat from the past few days. "It's probably in a better place right now."

"Or a better puddle," Signum murmured under her breath. Vita heard her and shot a fierce glare at the tall woman over Caro's shoulder.

Tiana pushed her way towards Vita, her face pained. "But Vita, what's going on?" she pleaded. "You usually recover from any life-threatening injuries in less than twenty four hours. What's wrong? Signum said you didn't want to tell us, but..."

Vita sighed and let go of Caro resignedly. "No, I didn't," she said flatly. "You'll just laugh at me if I tell you."

"Now, Vita," Shamal said gently, "you are not fit for combat or any kind of mission. That is no laughing matter. No one's going to laugh at you."

"That's right," Subaru piped up hopefully. "You can tell us. We won't laugh."

"You will," Vita snapped.

Tiana clasped her hands together in front of her body. "We promise we won't laugh," she said earnestly. "Isn't that right, Erio, Caro?"

"Signum laughed when I told her," Vita argued, shooting another unfriendly glance at the imposing Velka Knight standing in the corner of the room.

Signum shrugged. "I laugh at many things."

"I've never seen you laugh at _anything_, and you chose to laugh at me."

"Yes, and then you laughed at me having to teach your trainees how to use a sword," Signum replied sourly. "I can see why you did."

Shamal sighed. She'd had to put up with this for the past few days already. "Why are you two always arguing with each other whenever Signum comes to visit?" she asked. "I thought you were such good friends!"

"That was before she laughed at me," Vita muttered. "Just because I've got food poisoning."

There was an extended silence as all of the forwards stared at the hospitalised Velka Knight in complete astonishment.

It was Tiana who recovered first. "You've got food poisoning?" she repeated.

Vita turned her face away. "You promised not to laugh."

"But...but...I don't understand..." The sharpshooter's gaze travelled from Vita's blotchy eyes and discoloured skin to the agony that crossed her face everytime she tried to move an inch. "But you look like you've got bubonic plague or something."

Vita snorted. "Thanks, Tia. I guess that's better than having you laugh at me."

"As a member of the Wolkenritter, Vita is an artificial intelligence," Shamal intervened, before another argument could start up. "Since she's not human – none of us are – she should not be able to contract human illnesses and diseases. However, in the rare occasion that she does...then it affects her on a much deeper level. My healing magic helps, but only so far." Shamal took a deep breath, her tired eyes mirroring deep concern. "My theory is that she's contracted some kind of virus from the food which infiltrated her main core. As a result, she's been vomiting, feverish, sneezing constantly, contracted violent coughing - "

"I think you can stop now," said Vita faintly. "I only feel better for a short time after I wake up, and that time ended just now."

Erio came over from the other side of the bed. "Food poisoning doesn't make you sneeze or give you any of those symptoms at all," he protested. "This isn't fair on Vita at all."

"Vita, don't worry!" Caro said with deep emotion, taking the redhead's hands in her own. "Erio and me will come to visit you every day until you get better again."

Vita managed a small smile at these words. "Thanks, Caro."

"I'll bring more Get Well cards made out of ice-cream and I'll make sure they don't melt this time."

"You don't have t- " Vita began to say.

"Maybe we can even eat the remains together."

Signum stepped away from the wall she was leaning against and stepped over to the foot of the bed. "You need to get better, Vita," she said seriously. "I mean it."

"Really?" said the red-haired Velka Knight, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, because if I have to teach your trainees once more about how you shouldn't wave a sword then I'm going to go crazy. Do you know just many times I have had to - "

"_ALERT!"_

They all jumped as red lights flashed throughout the entire hospital. Not only throughout the hospital, but everywhere that the TSA was based on in Mid-Childa. An uneasy mood settled amongst the mages in the room.

_"ALERT! ALERT!"_ Shari's voice echoed through the intercom throughout the entire base. _"All qualified mages are ordered to their stations immediately! Emergency in Quadron B! I repeat, all qualified mages must regroup at their assigned stations! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! Trainee mages are to report to their team leaders and await further orders there! ALERT!"_

It had been a long time since an emergency of this nature had happened in Mid-Childa. The forwards all knew it. Not since the JS Incident. For a full emergency to be called up upon the entire base...

"This isn't good," Signum said quietly to the others, as Shari repeated the announcement again and again. "Let's get to our stations right now."

Vita laughed bitterly. "Well, look at that," she said, delving back into the bedcovers. "First time Shari calls an emergency in over a year. And where am I? Sick in hospital from _food poisoning._" Looking disgusted, she rolled over onto her side. "You four, tell me all about it after it's over."

Subaru started to move towards Vita, recognising all too well the anguish on her face. The Velka Knight wanted so badly to fight, and her body wasn't permitting her to. Or her mind. It was difficult to tell with artificial intelligence.

"Vita..." Her voice caught in her throat. "We'll be back for you, okay?"

"Whatever," a croaked whisper retorted in reply.

Swiftly, the four forwards along with Sigmund rushed from the ward towards battle stations for the first time in a long time.

And then Shari's voice sounded again, more urgently. "_ALERT! Repeat, ALERT! The TSA is under attack!"_


	5. Confrontation

Alarms reverberated throughout the complex as every mage and soldier on duty ran to their post. The corridors were awash with people, anxiety and fear brimming on the edge at every corner, but thankfully everyone was keeping to the official protocol. It had been many months since the TSA had received such a high-alert emergency, but that hadn't made training any less important.

Nanoha was the first in the control room, only slightly out of breath when she got there. She was alarmed at just how much security she had seen dispatched in the direction she had come from. What exactly was going on?

The lights in the control room were dimmed, a sign that the unit had automatically switched to auxiliary power. It took only a moment for Nanoha to realise that the only reason why that would happen would be because the main power of the TSA had been critically sabotaged. And considering the security levels in operation, that should not be possible.

_There's nobody here on deck. Shari should be on duty keeping surveillance, unless she's been called to another division. And Hayate should be charge in here too because she works in Operations. Where _is_ everyone?!_

"Nanoha!"

She turned to see Shari rush in through the door, followed by Fate. The combat instructor felt her heart skip a beat, but not for the usual reasons.

"I'm sorry," panted Shari as she sat herself down into her seat again and the monitoring screens came into life in her hands. "There's too many things going on. Communications were taken down halfway through the last security transmission and I had to go see to it manually - "

Nanoha stared questioningly at the blonde Enforcer standing by the door, looking troubled. "Fate...? But why would the INB send you to - ?"

Fate shook her head. "The INB doesn't seem to be affected right now. They don't have any assistance to give. I'm here of my own accord, whether they like it or not." Her red-eyed gaze said much more than her words did, going beyond just simple caring.

"But Fate..."

Shari re-focused the central monitor, bringing up internal surveillance cameras. "Nanoha-san, Fate-san. The TSA is under attack both externally and internally. There's been a security breach at the vaults. I can deal with that, because we always keep the highest level of security on there." She took a deep breath. "It's...it's the internal breach that I need you for. Someone's hacked in all the way to our defences and is taking the TSA apart from inside."

"An inside job?" Nanoha said testily. A spy from within? But nobody would ever think of betraying the TSA...

Fate walked up next to her, scanning the screens intensely. "One person couldn't take down our power and defences so easily. It has to be a joint effort. And..."

"No," Shari said shortly. "The hacking comes from a single computer in our offices. In our Special Operations branch."

Nanoha felt a cold sensation fold down the back of her neck at the words. _No. It can't be. That's where..._She forced herself to speak. "Location?" she said, her voice dry in her mouth.

"Yagami Hayate's office."

The two Aces stared at the main screen in disbelief as Shari maximised it on her monitor. In her office, Hayate was furiously tapping away at her computer, her eyes bright and intense as the lights flickered on and off around her. Broken glass lay shattered and strewn all around the room where gunshots had been fired. The bodies of several security officers were lying half-way through the doorway.

_So that's why Hayate wasn't in the control room when I came in, _Nanoha thought, feeling a sinking feeling in her heart. _It's because she's...in there._

Fate whirled around to face Shari angrily. "You sent soldiers to fire on Hayate?" she demanded. "Are you out of your mind?"

Shari refused to back down, though the pain in her eyes was only too clear. "I had no choice. She's crippled almost all of our internal defences. The TSA is literally vulnerable to attack by any invading party if we let her continue!"

"This is Hayate we're talking about! She's our _friend!_" Fate stormed out through the door of the control room, shaking. "I'm going down there. Hayate wouldn't do this!"

Quickly, Nanoha reached out to restrain her before she got too far, pulling her back. "No," she said tightly, her breath sharp and painful in the back of her throat. "I'll go. Without Hayate in charge, everyone's going to be in disarray and confused about where to go and what's going on. You need to take charge and help - "

"No," Fate cut her off, pulling her arm back and dragging Nanoha forward towards her. The blond mage blinked away tears. "I'm not letting you go alone. Whatever is going on in Hayate's office, it's more than a match for security. I'm going with you, Nanoha."

_This doesn't make any sense. I promised Hayate that the three of us would meet up again today like old times. I didn't mean like this. Fate's right: Hayate would never do this. That can't be her hacking into central TSA security and attacking all the guards. Someone must have been taking advantage of her..._

Something nagged at her that it would be much better for her to go alone down into the office. Without Fate. But she didn't know how to put that into words.

Helplessly she turned to Shari. "Maybe one of the forwards could accompany me - "

"It's too late for that," the communications officer said regretfully. "They've all been ordered to the vaults where the external break-in has begun. Everyone has their hands full at the moment." Gently, she said, "Nanoha, let her go with you. There's no reason why you shouldn't."

The brunette mage opened her mouth to speak, but Fate wasn't going to take no for an answer. They were running out of time and all of them were on edge. Reluctantly, she let her lover drag her out of the control room by the arm.

_ Fine, _she thought to herself as they both increased their speed down to the next floor_ I'll do this with you so that I can get home to my daughter like I promised her. Nothing more, nothing less. But something seriously wrong is going on in Hayate's office. I just don't want you to be there to witness it._

* * *

The four forwards tore out of the hospital on the far side of the compound and towards their allocated positions. Shari's announcement repeated on loop for everyone to hear, echoing on into the distance.

"_Alert! External security breach at the entrance to the vaults! The TSA is under attack by a number of hostile forces that have appeared in the south wing. All mages above A-rank are to aid the security forces in sealing the vaults! Trainee mages and other divisions are to report to your supervisors. Repeat..."_

The vaults. Subaru exchanged glances with Tiana upon hearing this. The four of them knew only too well what that meant – the vaults of the TSA housed the Lost Logia which were sealed away for protection and for research in the Infinity Library. An attack like this could only mean one thing.

"Someone must be trying to get hold of the Lost Logias," Erio said, raising his spear up vertically in preparation for combat, gazing far into the distance where the vaults were located. "This isn't good."

Tiana shook her head in disbelief. She had initially perked up at the sign of action when the alarms had gone off in the hospital wing, but it didn't seem to be quite what she'd expected."They're attacking the most heavily armed and strongest point of the Bureau? Only an idiot would do that."

"Or someone very self-confident," Subaru said thoughtfully. "Shari's really calling for backup from our strongest mages?" Her right hand curled into a fist for a moment, then relaxed. "Do you think it's the combat cyborgs again?"

Tiana slapped her friend around the back of the head irritably, and the short-haired mage dropped her neck with a yelp. "There aren't any combat cyborgs around anymore. Not any that want to kill us. And Ginga confirmed that Scaglietti's dead, remember?" Sometimes she despaired about whether Subaru used her head properly around her. "We aren't going to find out standing here. Let's go."

The pair of them raced forward across the open grounds towards the south wing of the compound, ready for anything that lay ahead. Behind them, Erio whispered reassuringly to Caro and helped her along to match everyone's pace. The siren continued to resound all around them, getting louder and louder as they approached the vault. It wasn't long before they could no longer hear what Shari was saying anymore.

There was a sudden gasp from behind them and Caro came to a sudden halt, breathing fast.

"Caro, what is it?" Erio said in alarm, reaching out to catch her in case she fell.

The little girl didn't seem to be in pain, just very startled. She stared at the back of her hands

in wonder, then held her device up for everyone to see. It was glowing a distinct red, pulsing all the way up her wrist.

"Wait, is that…?" Subaru started.

"Yes," Caro said quietly. "It's the same feeling I had when we were fighting Lutecia. My boost device Kerykeion is reacting on its own. Someone is using summoning magic…and they're fairly close…"

Subaru and Tiana looked at each other with grim resolve. Could it be that a summoner was mounting the attack on the TSA? Considering what had happened last time they'd tried fighting a summoner, this couldn't bode well at all. But the four of them had grown stronger since then. Surely they could all cope with a summoner.

"I don't like this," Erio said, disturbed. "The elites have been called away to defend against the attack. Our other positions would be left almost completely defenceless. And now Caro says a summoner is involved."

Tiana tapped her foot impatiently. "Are we going to the vaults or not?"

She started in surprise as Subaru laid a hand on her arm, her tension dissipating in seconds. "Tia, don't be so quick to rush into things," the blue-haired mage said passively. "Nanoha-san always told us not to be reckless. Erio, what are you trying to say?"

The red-haired boy met her gaze evenly, thinking carefully. "I think…I think this attack is a decoy. And I don't think Hayate-san would order all of our best forces to defend against just one attack, because then we'd be open to another attack from somewhere else. Something's wrong here, and I don't know what it is."

_A decoy? _Tiana thought, forcing herself to quell her rising need for action. _A decoy for what? It's unlikely after all this time, but not impossible. And if Erio's right then someone needs to go back and reinforce the other defenses. Even if all four of us went against orders and headed back, we couldn't possibly defend the entire perimeter by ourselves._

"Then maybe we should split up," Subaru declared. "Two of us go ahead to the vaults to meet up with the rest of the Bureau, and two of us go back and make sure there isn't going to be a surprise attack from the rest of the perimeter."

"Two of us?" Erio said in disbelief. "We couldn't track such a wide space like that. Anyone could get past us..."

Caro stepped forward just then, Fried perched tightly on her shoulder. "No," she said, her eyes bright. "I'll go to the perimeter and ride Fried so that I can scout the walls. If Fried gains enough altitude, I'll be able to see any surprise attack coming."

Tiana nodded slowly, seeing the intelligence of the idea. As long as she didn't miss out on whatever action was taking place right now in the vaults, she was good to go along with whatever they suggested. She was fed-up of not being able to use her skills properly after she'd trained so hard.

"Then I'll go with you, Caro," said Erio seriously, walking around to stand next to the pink-haired summoner. "Let's go check this out right away."

"Agreed. Tia and I will head to the vaults as usual then," Subaru confirmed, turning to the sharpshooter slowly, but then her face fell when she saw that Tiana was already walking off towards the south, anxious for action. "Hey, Tia!" she yelled, running after her. "Wait up! Don't leave me behind!"

With a soft smile, Erio watched them go, then turned back to the summoner at his side. They were working together once again for the first time in quite a while. "Ready?" he whispered excitedly.

"Ready," Caro acknowledged, holding out an arm rigidly in front of her as Fried flew up before them. Kerykeion blazed before her as she poured her magic out in front of her, concentrating deeply. "_White spirits that traverse the blue skies,_" she chanted, shades of red and pink lancing out around her to engulf herself and Fried, _"become my wings to reach the heavens!"_

Fried gave a piercing howl as the light pierced through him, seeming to grow in might and proportion, engulfed by the magic.

_"Come forth, my dragon Friedrich," _Caro cried, her device releasing the height of its energy before them. "_DRAGON SOUL SUMMON!__"_

As the summoning spell blazed forth with Fried at the epicentre, mighty wings of purest white unveiled themselves around the two children, held aloft by a curved majestic body of great curved claws and a gentle but powerful grace. Friedrich reared itself high above them, bowing its head to Caro as it landed before the two of them, ready to take them wherever they wished.

Caro felt a rush of relief within her; she hadn't tried summoning Fried's full form for many weeks and was afraid that she might not have been able to do it. Yet the power still remained with her. With a shared smile, she and Erio settled onto Friedrich's back as the dragon took off towards the north-east.

* * *

Nanoha could feel the backlash of wind in her face as she made her way quickly through the lower levels of the Bureau, retracing the route she had made just a day ago. With every step, the growing sense of dread gripped her heart until it was almost overpowering. No, she told herself decisively, there is no going back now. Force away the fear. Hayate needs you.

Behind her, Fate was just a few steps on her trail. The blonde Enforcer wasn't further back because of a difference in speed, but because she was deliberately keeping her distance. Nanoha's behaviour in wanting to do this alone had disturbed her somewhat, so that Fate was keeping a very close eye on her. Nanoha could almost feel her lover's red eyes burn into her back, but chose to ignore it. They had to focus on what was happening now.

Suddenly the two of them came to a halt. The bodies of several security guards and medium-rank mages were sprawled halfway down the corridor from them as they entered from the level above. Cautiously, Nanoha moved forward to inspect them. If this really was all of Hayate's doing...no, it couldn't be.

"Some of them are still alive," Fate said in a low voice, kneeling down besides her amongst the wounded. "They need medical attention."

"Right," said Nanoha uncomfortably. The sense of foreboding had spread to engulf most of her chest now. As if...as if death was just around the corner. "You stay here and call Shamal down with the medical team, and - "

She stopped speaking abruptly as Fate jerked her arm round towards her, forcing her to look her in the eye. Reluctantly, Nanoha did so. The hurt she saw in her lover's eyes did nothing to alleviate the fear rising within her.

"Nanoha," the blonde mage whispered, "please don't tell me to leave you again." Her fingertips pressed against Nanoha's bare wrist, sliding up underneath the cuff of her uniform. "I know something's wrong." _Even if you're afraid to tell me._

Distractedly, Nanoha tore herself away from her, easing her hand away as gently as she could. "Fate...we'll be fine." She touched the red orb hanging on the chain around her neck, just for a moment, feeling her voice die in her throat even as Fate gazed at her questioningly. The tension in her muscles wouldn't go away, but Fate being by her side made her feel more at ease. But if she didn't go on now, she didn't think she could tolerate with the feeling for much longer.

_We have to go on._

"Raging Heart," she said, holding her faithful device up in front of her, "Set Up."

The red orb came to life in her hands. _"Stand by. Ready. Set Up."_

The familiar transformation encompassed in her body as Nanoha moved forward, past the bodies of the security guards. She felt Fate transforming beside her with Bardiche and the two of them moved past countless shards of broken glass that littered the area from broken windows and stray bullets. A few metres ahead, they came across several more bodies in their way, and had to step over them to proceed.

No blood. No open wounds. It was a scary thought, but Hayate would be more than capable of doing this kind of damage. Her magic, after all, was specifically concentrated in wide-area spells. It took time to cast, but if she had forewarning of the guards then she could easily defend herself.

_Then what's going to stop her from doing the same thing to us? What's going to stop us from ending up like them?_

The answer came to Nanoha easier than she would have thought. _Because she wouldn't attack us. She wouldn't go against me and Fate. But if she would do all this...if something could influence her this way..._

Tap, tap, tap.

Fate drew in a sharp intake of breath next to Nanoha as they came to a sudden halt in front of what had once been Hayate's office. The door had been blasted apart as if hit by a bomb, and the windows were completely shattered, so that the open winds of outside could freely drift in without measure.

Tap, tap, tap.

"Hayate?" Nanoha called out, her voice trembling. She felt a weakness rising up towards her knees, but shoved it away. She didn't feel the sense of dread anymore. Instead, it had been replaced by something far more terrifying.

Holding Bardiche up defensively in front of her with both hands, Fate pushed past her and stepped into the office. Nanoha cried out in surprise, reaching out to stop her, but the Enforcer shrugged her off as if to say, _I'm not going to let you get hurt. I'm going in first._

No explosive magic spells were cast. No pillars of destruction, no all-powerful attacks from the Tome of the Night Sky. Fate steeled herself for any sign of attack, any sign of danger. Anything at all.

She walked into the office completely unscathed, shortly followed by Nanoha. They weren't going to be attacked. But she refused to let her guard down now until they got to the bottom of this.

Tap, tap, tap...

"Hayate," Nanoha repeated, staring up at the young short-haired mage standing at the monitor at the other end of the office.

There was no response, none whatsoever. Hayate was typing away at the terminal like a woman possessed. She was still in her uniform, which explained why she hadn't attacked them. Except...there seemed to be no sign of her device, Reinforce. That didn't make sense. Hayate carried Reinforce everywhere she went.

Tap, tap, tap.

"What are you doing, Hayate?" Fate said, taking a step closer. "Why are you doing this?!"

_Tap._

Hayate pressed one last key on the computer and the whole monitor shut down in an instant. The lights in the room flickered momentarily as the former commander of Riot Force 6 turned around slowly, staring at her two friends silently.

Then she spoke, her face breaking into a thin smile that none of them had seen before.

"It is done," Hayate said in a near-whisper, her voice like ash scraping across the desert floor. "Srethis has done the world a service, though the enemies...pursue ignorance."

Nanoha didn't understand what she was talking about. What was this? Hayate didn't act like this. This couldn't be her. This was...

"Who are you?" she demanded, raising Raging Heart in her right hand as the pressure mounted in her chest. "You're not Hayate. What have you done with her?"

The person in front of them chuckled with Hayate's voice, lifting up Hayate's hands to smooth down Hayate's own hair. Except that when they spoke, it no longer sounded anything like Hayate at all. A hiss erupted from their mouth, with a gutteral edge to it that was decidedly non-human.

"Midchilda agentsss," it hissed proudly. "Ssso intimidating." Hayate's face flicked up, with eyes of dark green. Dark, swamp green. "Srethis hasss no businesss with you. Your friend, Hayate, is long gone, lost in time...and will never return..."

Then Hayate's skin turned jet black, brightening into a mellow green which spread out throughout her entire body. Her eyes rolled up in her head, the short brown hair melting into the skull until it became a patch of green flesh which folded down to engulf her. Scales rippled down her arms and legs, and the uniform was ripped away as fingers turned into talons. Her mouth opened wide and a long scaly tongue licked out from within, displaying two rows of sharp pointy teeth.

As the two mages looked on in horror, the creature before them sprang forward a step, and great scaled wings sprouted from its back. The transformation was complete for the reptilian imposter.

_What the...? _Nanoha could scarcely believe what she had just witnessed. _What in the world _is_ it?_

She felt the pressure in her chest squeeze against her, and she choked back a gasp of pain. This wasn't dread or fear she was feeling. Not anymore. Gasping for breath, she fell to one knee, unable to stop herself, though she kept a tight grip on Raging Heart.

"Nanoha!" Fate rushed to her aid in a flash, eyes wide. "Are you okay? What's wrong? Did - " The blonde mage whirled around to the reptilian creature revealed in front of them. "You!" she cried. "What did you do to Nanoha? What did you _do_ to her?!"

The creature blinked once and licked its lips. "Do?" it repeated. "Srethis hass told you it hass no businesss with you." Then its gaze focused on Nanoha on the floor, who was struggling to remain upright, and a sudden light blazed in its eyes. "Ahahaha!" it cried. "Srethis underssstands! _Ssshe _is the "Nanoha" you sspeak of? She...has no hope!"

Nanoha dropped to both knees, the pain shooting through her head. Fierce, agonising, intense. It blotted out her vision and ripped at the inside of her throat until she screamed. She couldn't tell if Fate was by her side or was holding her anymore. The agony was tearing through her from inside unlike anything she had ever felt before.

"_Nanoha!_" Fate clutched at her lover, lying in agony on the floor in front of her. "Stop it!" she shouted towards the reptile. "Whatever it is you're doing to her, _stop it!_ It's going to kill her!"

The creature nodded with a wide grin. "That...iss very close to the truth. But Srethis thinksss you really do not know. Your "Nanoha" is already dead!"

Fate stared at it in horror. "_What?_"

"She is being killed in the passt," the reptile said in a soothing sing-song voice, stroking its claws delicately. "And now...ssshe is dying in the present. And there iss nothing you can do, nothing Srethis can do, nothing anyone can do to stop it! She who is already dead cannot be allowed to live!"

The words were a rage of sound in the world around Nanoha as she crawled forward, the breath torn from her throat. She could barely breathe anymore, feeling as if something was crushing from her the inside. Blackness had torn her vision from her, and even her muscles refused to obey her, quailing under the force of the dreadful darkness tearing her apart...

Yet three words from the lizard-like creature made their way through the bitter chaos that surrounded her and threatened to take her down from inside.

_She is dying._


	6. Under Fire

**Long chapter this time with lots happening :) Thank you so much for everyone's who reviewed so far! I was actually thinking of giving up some chapters ago because I thought no one was reading and there were so many good shipfics out there...but your reviews have convinced me to keep going. :)**

The whirring of the cardiac monitor filled the hospital ward, an ominous constant humming that beeped every few seconds. Surveillance cameras silently focused on the sleeping patient in the central bed, relaying the data and information directly to the TSA itself. The leads from the monitor were connected directly to the chest of the comatose young woman, from which breathing tubes were hooked up to oxygen supplies and an IV dip stood feeding directly into her body.

With each breath, the teenage Nanoha showed no signs of waking up any time soon. Her life signs were weak, but constant and showing potential for recovery. But she would need the willpower to go on, the strength and support from her family and friends, and the long months of rehabilitation before she could stand again once more on her own two -

The Legion stepped through the door, one metal step against the floor, one silent human step. Its visual circuits scanned the room intensely, immediately sensing the cameras. Almost absent-mindedly, it reached out with its human hand and unplugged them from their sockets, sending the screens into darkness.

It moved forward into the ward until it was standing right beside the bed of Takamachi Nanoha. A young Nanoha, who had not long been training with the TSA before succumbing to her accident on that fateful mission. A lesson of recklessness. A reminder of mortality.

Yes, mortality, the Legion mused thoughtfully. For in the end, life must come to an end. No matter how long you try to extend your life force, you will inevitably only drive yourself closer to termination, whether by natural means or not.

The machine part of the Legion repeated the orders from the superior. Time was of the essence. They couldn't afford to hesitate now. The Legion consulted its human counterpart, the reasoning section of its mind. Asking the important questions: _Is this necessary? Will this change the future? What are the consequences of such an action?_

The Legion considered the answers to all the questions, then nodded in satisfaction and reached forward to remove the breathing tubes and leads completely.

* * *

_ "Nanoha!"_

Fate held the brunette mage folded within her arms, cradling her as Nanoha's mouth opened wide in a silent scream. Her eyes were clamped tightly shut, her arms and legs slumped uselessly as if they were broken. There was a bulge in her throat, as if something was trying to get out, but then Fate realised that Nanoha was struggling to breathe. Quickly, she tried to give her room, give her air. _What's going on? I can't help her! Something's seriously wrong with her and I...no, I'm not giving up! I'll do CPR if I have to!_

Then Nanoha's eyes flicked upon to latch onto hers. To her horror, Fate saw that her lover's eyes were completely empty, as if they had been cut out completely. Her pupils were as black and hollow as that of a long-dead skull.

Petrified, Fate backed away a step in spit of herself, bringing a hand to her mouth. _No. What has that...what has that _creature_ done to you? It's the one doing it. It impersonated Hayate and it's killing you! I'm not going to - _

The damage to Nanoha's body hadn't stopped with her eyes. As Fate watched in mounting terror, paralysed to the spot, the emptiness spread down the whole of the mage's body...down her neck, across the inside of her arms and legs, stretching across her breast and stomach, as if eating away at her from the inside...

_This can't be happening. This has to be a nightmare. I want to wake up._

The shell of the body on the floor twitched once, and the outer skin disintegrated completely, vanishing into the air, like dust blown away by the wind. Nothing remained of Takamachi Nanoha anymore, nothing at all. It was as if she had just ceased to exist completely. No sign of even her body remained anymore.

"Nanoha..."

Fate knelt down, shaking so violently that she could barely put one step in front of the other. With the blood drained from her face, she slowly touched the floor here Nanoha had been just moments ago. Dying in her arms. Unconsciously calling for her as she struggled in the grip of some unseen force.

She found herself desperately scrabbling for anything, anything at all. A speck of dust. A footprint. Even fire left ashes behind. But the ground was undisturbed as if Nanoha had never stood upon it. Even her familiar scent was gone. Her hair, her comforting blue eyes as she...no...

In mounting horror, Fate realised that the image of Nanoha in her mind was vanishing as if by magic. Her memories of Nanoha were vanishing too.

_NO!_

"NANOHA!" she screamed.

The wall of air in front of her came to life and whipped at her face and hair, intertwining around Fate powerfully. Startled, the Enforcer reached for Bardiche to defend herself, but another tendril curved across her hand and knocked the device from her grasp, tossing it back towards the doorway.

_A binding spell?! No...there was no incantation. This is something else..._

Fate gasped for breath, struggling against her invisible bonds with all her might. Even without Bardiche, she was still an Ace among the Bureau. She felt the bindings bend under her strength, though they would not yield much further.

The reptilian creature who had impersonated Hayate came forward, its dark green eyes burning as it looked upon her. An animal-like hiss escaped its throat and it beat its wings once, twice, rising up above the floor. Without another word to her, it raised a scaly arm and balled it into a taloned fist. Powerful muscles rippled across the exterior as it ripped a large enough hole in the western wall, pushing its way out into the open air outside the building.

_You won't escape,_ Fate vowed. _Your binding spell can't hold me. You've taken Nanoha away from me and I'm coming for you._

Nanoha. The strength drained from her body as she pictured her love being torn away out of this world. _No. That didn't happen. The reptile was lying. It took Nanoha away somewhere, somewhere away from me. She can't be dead. She _can't_ be. She promised to be home with Vivio tonight. V-Vivio..._

Her face damp with tears, Fate summoned up her hidden reserves of courage and called out achingly for Bardiche.

* * *

Hayate ran through the streets of past Mid-childa, searching for Rein. The unison device surely couldn't have gone very far, but so far Hayate had found no sign of her. Was she hiding? In a place and time like this? The worst thing that could happen now was to be separated from the only real ally she had right now who could grasp the situation.

"Rein!" she shouted into the night. "Where _are_ you?"

There was no reply across the length and scale of the empty road. Hayate shivered, holding her arms tighter around her body to keep her warm. The crippling sense of loneliness that she had experienced only yesterday was beginning to affect her once more at the least favourable of times. Especially now, when she was stranded in a time ten years back which was not her own...

_No. There has to be a way back. All I have to do is find it. But first I have to find Rein before it becomes too dark to see - _

Hayate stopped dead in her tracks. _Night?_ Had time passed that quickly? When she had been transported back in time – if she could call it that – it had been early afternoon. The sun high in the sky, a beautiful day for a walk, kids laughing in the park...but not anymore. A blackened sky loomed overhead, seeming all too familiar. Clouded shades lurked at the edges of the barrier -

_A barrier?_

Now she understood. Hayate had been too lost in her own thoughts, desperately trying to find Rein again, too much so to properly recognise the signs. Just because she wasn't in the present anymore didn't mean she could let her guard down. If there was a barrier here, then there was a mage in the area and fairly close by. She didn't think Rein would have cast it, wherever she was. Which meant...

"Reinforce," she murmured, holding her faithful device up from around her neck. "Set Up."

The transformation took only a moment, her black and gold cloak extending around her protectively, four black wings curving out from her back, and Reinforce in staff form ready in both her hands. Thus shielded, the cold didn't seem to affect her as much. Whatever was out there, she needed to be ready for it.

Swiftly, Hayate scanned the area, her aqua-blue eyes focusing on cutting through the shadows that obscured her vision. There didn't seem to be anyone there at all. That couldn't be right: magical barriers didn't set up by themselves.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, instantly detecting a faint aura of magical force not too far ahead of her. Further down the street, near to where her house was. It might be Rein, but it might not be.

Still with her eyes closed to prevent them from deceiving her anymore, Hayate walked further for a few minutes, feeling the magical aura increase in magnitude. The shadows hissed above her at the height of the barrier. They posed no threat to anyone, but their presence made her uncomfortable.

At last, Hayate trusted her instincts enough to open her eyes again, and took a step back in confusion when she saw where she was: she was standing in the front garden of her house. The exact point, in fact, where she had seemingly entered this time era.

The grass churned and bubbled underneath her feet unnaturally, as if it were lava flowing from the pit of a volcano. Quickly, Hayate took another step back, preparing herself. Illusion magic? No. This didn't feel like that. This was -

The entirety of the air shifted and changed around her, and _something_ stepped out of it, shadows brimming across its face and body, coalescing into an indistinct form which was hard to focus on. Looking at it was like trying to look at too many things at once: it made your head hurt.

"You must be Yagami Hayate," the shadowy form whispered.

The air rippled again and the whirl of shadows around it vanished, although the barrier remained. And the person in front of Hayate soldified into a teenage girl with long black and green hair sweeping down her shoulders, possessing eyes that pierced through the night, a whirl of black vortexes stroking her fingertips.

The girl was clothed in a long black robe which covered her from the base of her neck all the way down to her feet. She appeared to be barefoot, although it wasn't apparent why. Various runes and constellations adorned her cloak. Her face was pleasant to look upon, but the smile she gave to Hayate was not that of friendship.

Hayate tightened her grip on Reinforce. "You're the mage who brought me here," she whispered.

The robed girl gave no reply, the cold smile fixed. There was no sign of a device or weapon anywhere in sight on her person, but that didn't mean she wasn't dangerous.

"You brought me back in time," Hayate said, slightly unnerved by the girl's attitude. "How...how can you do that? Who are you?"

The girl clasped her hands together, shifting her cloak off to one side for a moment as the shadowed light glistened across her dark hair.

"I am Exoria," she said calmly. "Time Mage and servant to Oguba." A disgusted expression flittered across her features. "You? _You're_ the Hayate that I've heard so much about? I came all this way to meet you, and I feel like I've wasted my time!"

Unprepared for such a response, Hayate found herself speechless at first. "Wait..." She didn't know where to start. "Why are you - "

The smile had vanished with whichever semblance of goodwill had existed on there. "Save it, worthless human! You're just like the rest of them." Exoria clasped her hands tighter together, a blackened glow forming around them, vibrating intensely. "We have nothing more to say to each other!"

Hayate didn't understand, but the girl's hostility was all too evident. Defensively, she brought up her staff, wary of what Exoria was doing now. Was she casting a spell? "What are you doing?" she demanded. "Did you just come to insult me?"

"I came here to send you back, you idiot!" The black aura around the mage's hands was crackling with power, sending small spikes of energy around it in every direction.

"Back?" Hayate cried, relaxing for a moment. "Back to my own time?"

Exoria grinned in a twisted fashion. "No. Back to darkness! To the eternity and inevitability of death!" She pushed her palms forward, rippling powerfully. "_Time Destruction!__"_

The pent-up energy was expelled towards Hayate at full power. Dazed, Hayate raised her own device in front of her, trying to solidify her own defenses against this unknown spell. But her specialities were long-range wide-area spells, not at such close combat -

"_Frierenfesseln!__" _Rein screamed, flying in from the corner of her vision.

Torrents of water engulfed the robed girl all at once, freezing into an icy cage to entrap her. Exoria screamed in frustration as she was hemmed in all sides, smashing at the walls with her bare fists.

Hayate staggered to her feet, her own staff steaming slightly but otherwise okay. Whatever it was that had been fired at her, Rein's capture spell had gone through it and negated most of the effects it came with. It had hit Hayate with minimal power and only pushed her back a little.

"Rein!" she cried with relief. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

The unison device smiled back. "I'm sorry I ran away, Hayate..." She blushed and looked away for a moment, embarrassed. "I thought I'd lost you for good."

Hayate reached over and hugged her as best as she could. With a hand, at least. "You're back with me and that's good enough. Let's not talk about that now." She turned her attention to Exoria bashing on the ice cage. "We've got to do something. She's the one who sent us here."

"Okay. So..." Rein put a hand to her head, trying to think as quickly as possible. "If she brought us here, she can send us back."

"She's not going to send us back, Rein. She's trying to kill me." Even spoken out loud she didn't quite understand. _If she wanted me dead all along, why didn't she just do it when she ambushed me in my office? Why would she want me dead in the past? Unless..._

Unless something happens in the _future._

"Okay, I've got a plan," Hayate said to Rein. She didn't know how much longer the ice cage would hold. "It'll take me some time for me to prepare a spell, and we don't want to kill her or we'll be stuck here forever. I need you to keep her in that cage so that I can - "

_"__Time Deformation!__"_

Pulsing waves of green and black energy slammed into the frozen cage from within. The cage shuddered, then began to evaporate into steam at an alarming rate. Exoria smashed her way out through what was left of the icy prison, enraged and panting from exertion.

Rein and Hayate exchanged glances.

"Let's forget that plan for now," Hayate said, bringing the Tome of the Night Sky in front of her, flipping through its pages at breakneck speed. "Rein, keep her busy! I need time!"

"Understood!" the unison device affirmed, and dived towards the robed mage tearing her way towards them.

Hayate withdrew a fair distance from the two of them, watching Rein cast spell upon spell at Exoria. They were mainly support and capture spells – without combining with an actual mage, Rein didn't have many attack spells of her own. But Exoria seemed to be exhausted by the few spells that she had used on them. Time Mage, she had called herself. If that kind of "time" magic could exist, and seeing as it put such a strain on her body...

_Think, Hayate, _ she cautioned herself as she continued to leaf her way through the Tome in increasing desperation. _You've got long-range wide-area spells. But you don't want to hit Rein, and you don't want to kill your opponent, because you need her alive. And you're running out of time._

She stopped at the page she wanted and began the incantation. This would have to do, and she would be taking a large gamble in doing this. She was betting on how Exoria would react to the spell. And she still might hit Rein...

"_Approach from beyond, mistletoe branches,"_ she cried forth, raising Reinforce towards the sky, "_and become spears of the silver moon! Pierce it!"_

The white triad of magical energy appeared beneath her, and six pulsating bolts were conjured up in the sky around her, awaiting her command. Ahead of her, Exoria stiffened at the presence of the spell, her eyes growing wide in fear. The robed mage clamped her hands togetheragain, sweat standing out on her forehead, forcing black energy from her fingertips.

_"Stone spears,"_ Hayate chanted, releasing the spell, _"__MISTELTEIN!__"_

Exoria initiated her own spell in a panic. "_Chronological Time Switch!__" _she cried in desperation, whipping her hands forth through the shadows around her.

The petrifying spears began to rain down on the girl, but already the air was shimmering around Exoria, opening out into a portal for her. Hayate's eyes widened, rushing forward with her a telepathic shout to Rein for the pair of them to rush the mage at the same time. Exoria was trying to escape in the fastest way possible that she knew: through time.

Hayate ran for the portal as fast as she could, fearful that she gained too much distance when preparing the spell; Exoria was already halfway through it. Frantically she pulled the mage backwards by the back of her robes, hearing Exoria scream furiously at her. The portal began to close as the two of them struggled to get through the opening at the same time whilst preventing the other one from doing so.

Then Rein came down from above, flying into the midst of the struggle, throwing all three of them into the portal at the same time. The air shuddered with the effects of transporting more people than could be humanly allowed, and then closed permanently as the barrier over past Mid-childa vanished in their wake. Moments later, the darkness had disappeared from the town completely, leaving no trace at all.

* * *

It was complete and utter chaos when Subaru and Tiana finally arrived at the vaults. Mages and soldiers alike were fighting side-by-side, firing and casting spells at the monstrous creatures that were assaulting their defenses. Over a hundred bodies lay collapsed within the perimeter, although the majority were thankfully only wounded, with multiple sustained injuries from the attack.

Officers shouted commands to their squadrons which could barely be heard over the fighting as more and more of the creatures overwhelmed the perimeter. The monsters seemed to be some kind of mutation out of a nightmarish experiment. Some had the heads and bodies of lions, others had the faces of humans; some had grown wings and tails, others spat fire and acid upon their victims.

The cabinets of the Lost Logia were all open. Not smashed open by any of the monsters, but neatly unlocked and uncaged, released for any to use.

If Tiana had wanted action, it was not in short supply. For several minutes the two of them smashed their way through scores of mutants, reinforcing the defence line as other mages came forward to drive the creatures back. The creatures they fought were about twice as big any of them, but were easily defeated with Tiana's bullets or Subaru's fists. There were just so _many_ of them. They seemed to be never-ending.

"Subaru, I don't like this," Tiana said. "You remember how Caro said she sensed a summoner was in the area?"

Subaru nodded. "You're thinking that these beasts were all summoned by them?"

"It's not just that. I'm sensing illusion magic too." Tiana raised her weapon to eye level to shoot down another monstrosity at the back that had been slowly creeping towards them. "I can't tell how much of it is being used, but it's definitely there."

The blue-haired mage sighed. "Conjurer _and _an illusionist? We've got our work cut out for us here, haven't we?"

There was a sudden almighty roar which drowned out all of the fighting at once and the mages and soldiers looked up in horror. Poised in front of the doors stood a mutation far bigger and mightier than any of the small fry at the perimeter. It drew itself up until it stood higher than the vault of any of the buildings in the Bureau, stamping down wicked claws the size of three mages. The walls crumbled beneath it. It's head and body was that of a lion, and an impressive wingspan brought it up to the ceiling until it had perched itself onto the roof. A deadly tail swung from its rear and impaled another soldier below, almost casually.

Subaru and Tiana stared at the monster open-mouthed for a moment.

"Is that an illusion?" Subaru said hopefully.

Tiana gritted her teeth and started to run for the entrance. They needed one of the Aces to take down that thing, but right now none of them were available.

"Subaru," she said decisively, "we've got to find who's summoning these creatures. Come on."

* * *

The creature which called itself Srethis made its escape across the skies upon escaping from Hayate's voice. It considered itself lucky to have got away so easily. After impersonating the mage and using her own authority and access to bring down the Bureau's internal defences from within, Srethis had known that very few of the organization would care whether or not if it returned at all. After all, this had been a suicide mission from the start.

_Srethis getss all the dirty work,_ the reptile thought in disgust, swooping down towards the west. _But Srethiss doesss it still. Srethiss hass no choice. The otherss, Legion, Grylmark, Exoria, they all have a choice, but - _

_ "__Blast Flare__!"_

Dragonfire tore out of the sky behind the reptile, taking it by surprise and tearing a savage burn in one of its wings. The creature howled in agony, losing altitude in the sky as it began to fall down to earth. Determinedly, it made an effort to fly with the other wing, but it was a futile effort. It wasn't going to stay airborne for much longer.

With a muttered curse, Srethis cursed its incompetence at letting its guard down within the perimeter. Leaving the blonde mage behind to grieve over her lover had obviously not been the last obstruction.

It managed to slow its fall with the other wing, enough so that it was able to land safely on the ground, right in front of the exit to the Bureau -

Erio and Caro hovered high above, on Friedrich, weapons and devices all armed.

_So near and yet so far. _

"Who are you?" Caro cried. "State your name and purpose within TSA grounds, or we will put you under arrest as mages of the Time-Space Administration Bureau."

The reptile's eyes gleamed as it looked back up at the mages aboard the dragon. Just kids. The dragon would be a problem, but Srethis had come so far now. It was so close to escape. The wing was all but useless, but the rest of its body could still fight.

"Srethis hass no business with you," it hissed, and took a step forward in challenge, claws extended.

"No," came a soft voice from behind it, full of pain, "but I have business with you."

Slowly, the reptile turned around in surprise, its eyes narrowing as it recognised her. Long blonde hair flowing down her shoulders with only her ribbon keeping it together, her white cloak rippling down the length of her body...and crimson eyes that blazed with emotion. The reptile had seen her only once before, but recognised her immediately.

"_Zanber Form__," _Fate Testarossa said coldly, and Bardiche altered into the familiar sword of energy. _"__Impulse Form__."_ Her Barrier Jacket flashed in front of her as she stared at the reptile for a moment, standing perfectly still. "Give...give Nanoha back to me."

**I killed off the main character T_T I'm terrible.**


	7. Retaliation

**Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewing so far! A few things I should mention: I have not read any of the manga past StrikerS, e.g. ViVid, Force etc. so any new techniques or spells that the characters learn in those, I haven't used or anything. Just going from the setting not long after StrikerS finishes.  
**

**Also, I always thought those "ability limiters" were a bit pointless in StrikerS, so I've just decided to leave them out completely here. I'm not mentioning them at all, so basically there's nothing stopping Nanoha and co from going straight to Starlight Breaker if they want to.  
**

**Anyway here's the chapter.  
**

The glass was the first thing that Hayate saw when she regained unconsciousness. She had never seen it this close up before. And by "close up", she meant embedded in her very skin. With a howl, she swept Reinforce around in a fluid circle – apparently the transition through the portal had allowed her to retain her mage's protective clothing – and blew away every particle of glass around her.

Unfortunately, Rein was caught up in the blast too. Hayate quickly reversed the spell to bring the unison device back towards her. Now, if only...

_Where are we _this_ time? There's glass everywhere and it's as if a bomb went off in here. If that portal took us even further back in time, if that's even possible, then this is going to be really, really -_

Her gaze faltered when she recognised the computer screen at the end of the room. The remains of her very familiar desk. Posters and leaflets for Special Operations peeling off the walls, only just hanging on by a thread. A sad pile of smashed-up wood in the corner which must have originally been Rein's mini-desk and chair that Hayate had got for her.

She slowly picked up a very large and colourful poster that was lying on the floor. It was her joke poster about Nanoha and Fate getting married. It was ripped savagely down the middle, splitting the couple's smiling faces completely. Even it was just an accident, the sight of it unnerved Hayate and she quickly turned it over again.

_The good news is that we're back in my office. Hopefully, back in the right time._

"All right," Hayate sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "What in the world happened whilst we were gone? First person to tell me gets a free orange." She tapped her communicator impatiently, hearing nothing but crackling and static coming out of it. "Hello? Shari? Nanoha? _Anyone?_"

"This is bad," Rein murmured. "I can't get through to any of the higher-ups on my frequency either. Hayate, you've got more access than me – try contacting one of the directors in the Saint Church, like Carim or - "

The screech in their ears was enough to almost burst their eardrums. Both girls clamped their hands over the sides of their heads and ripped the communicators off quickly. The interference from the other end must have been overwhelming.

_"Hayate!"_ Chrono's familiar voice blared at them as they held the communicators at arm's length from their ear. "What do you think you are _doing?!_"

The short-haired mage stood very still for a moment, letting the ringing in her ears fade away. "Chrono-kun?" she said angrily. "What do you mean, what am _I_ doing? You're the one who just turned me deaf in one ear for the rest of my life!"

"Don't play that kind of game with me, Hayate." The aggression in his note was unlike anything she'd ever heard before, taking her completely unawares. "Internal transmissions from Special Operations show that you've completely throttled the defence network of the Bureau! We're open to attack from all borders!"

_"What?!_" Hayate shouted. "How could - "

The gravity of the situation was only just starting to press in on her. Being kidnapped and removed from this time period completely. Returning to find that all hell had broken loose and that the TSA was defenceless. Whoever was behind this had been planning this very carefully from the beginning. And the only reason to want her, Hayate, out of the way, would be so that someone could use her own access codes to bypass top security and -

"Chrono-kun," she said, "whoever's responsible for this used my access into the Bureau network. They must have - " It suddenly occurred to her what Chrono was yelling at her about. "Wait, you think _I_ did this?"

"Security verified it," the Bureau Admiral said through gritted teeth. "Communications were blocked down to your office and the lower floors were hours and I've finally got through. And the last I heard, Nanoha and Fate went down to try and talk to you. Where are they, Hayate?"

"Wait just a second here," Hayate said patiently, pinching the bridge of her nose softly. "_I_ didn't do this. _I_ didn't break through the top security of the TSA and blow up my own office and - " She glanced outside into the shattered corridor and gulped. " - and kill security guards and...Chrono, I don't know who you saw on the cameras, but that wasn't me!" _An imposter. Pretending to be me for the purpose of driving the Bureau into utter chaos. _"Don't you realise that?"

"Of course I do," Chrono said stiffly. "But how do I know it wasn't you when we saw you hacking into the systems just an hour ago?" His voice deepened with suspicion. "If there was an imposter...I could be speaking to them right now. If you're who you say you are, Hayate, where have you been all this time?"

Hayate exchanged glances with Rein. The unison device shook her head sadly.

"Travelling through time?" she tried weakly, then gave up on telling that part of the story. "Listen, Chrono, we probably don't have any time to explain. Rein can tell you about it later."

"Rein's there?" The Bureau Admiral sounded a little more respectful now. "Then..."

"Yes! If you would just _listen _to me for a second." Hayate threw up her arms, cursing the stubbornness of all males in her vicinity. "I was kidnapped and taken away from here, and that's when the imposter must have attacked!" She was gathering speed, getting more excited now. "I followed a girl through a time portal. It sounds impossible, I know, but - "

She stopped dead in mid-sentence, realising that she had overlooked one vital thing. Quickly, Hayate dropped the communicator, bringing her staff up defensively, eyes darting around the room, across shattered windows and smashed-up wood. She had been so relieved to actually get back to her own time that she had forgotten something very important.

_If we followed that girl through the portal, then she must have come out before we did, so - _

A black shape shot past her in a flash, whipping blades across the front of her body. Hayate felt blood seep across her front, staggering backwards in surprise more than anything else.

_"__Accelerated Time Destruction__," _Exoria chanted, and released the blaze of charging black energy straight into the wall next to Hayate.

The straight column of cement and plaster was annihilated in an instant as the spell collided into it. Not destroyed or ripped apart, as you might expect – but simply removed from the scene, as if it had vanished into another one of those portals that the robed girl had conjured up. Exoria flung a look of dark hatred at Hayate, then leapt through the wide opening and disappeared.

_What the - ?_

Quickly, she grabbed up the communicator again, scrabbling amongst the glass for a moment painfully before she found it again. "Chrono!" she yelled into it. "I'm found one of the people who might be responsible for what's going on. I'm going after them."

"Hayate, I don't know what you're even - "

"Neither do I. I need you to fill me in what's going on with the rest of the Bureau right now." Hayate propelled herself towards the gap in the wall, floating in mid-air to focus on her rapidly disappearing quarry in the distance. _She's trying to escape. And seeing as she's not using one of her time portals...then maybe she's weakening. _"I'll listen to you and chase her at the same time. Don't act so surprised," she added as she soared towards the north, Rein floating alongside her. "It's called multi-tasking."

* * *

The gigantic deformed mutant at the walls of the vaults let out an ear-splitting roar and cleaved the air in front of it with its talons. Cracks appeared along the thick cemented fortifications as smashing blows ripped into the side of the doors. They would not hold for much longer against such force.

Tiana and Subaru ascended the steps on either side of the monster, leading up to the roof. There was no sign of anyone controlling the creature. If it broke into the vaults completely, then...that was the part that didn't make sense. The Lost Logia within would be vulnerable to its attacks. If it was allowed to progress any further after that, then most likely the monster would destroy all of the Lost Logia entirely. There was no point in such a senseless act, since many of the Lost Logia might well be activated in the process and create additional problems. Subaru couldn't understand why anyone would go to so much trouble – unless Erio was right and all this was just a decoy.

"_Wing Road__!_"

The path before her led right around the side of the creature's skull. A perfect fighting position to minimize damage to yourself. But because the monster was so _huge_, the two of them had been forced to climb a considerable distance up above the ground just to be able to take a shot at it. A fall from this height would be fatal.

"There's no still sign of the summoner anywhere," Tiana said, bringing her weapon up to eye-level. "They must be in concealment, directing the attacks against the vault. In which case..."

Subaru nodded. "Let's deal with what's in front of us." Mach Caliber came to life in her fist with a flurry of energy. "If we don't take out that thing in the next five minutes, this whole place will be rubble."

Screams echoed from below as the mutant crushed more Bureua soldiers under its hooves, its great mane descending as it started to bite into the walls with two rows of metallic teeth, glistening under the falling sun. The other mages defending the vaults were desperately casting spells against the monster, but they weren't doing much good. Binds were snapped away uselessly and no cage spell was large enough to hold it.

Whatever they did here, they were on their own.

"_Variable Barrett__!_" Tiana commanded, as Cross Mirage brought their formidable opponent into sight along its laser-scope. A widening circle of energy formed at the end of the barrel, growing larger as the orange-haired mage concentrated the energy.

"_Drive Ignition__!" _Subaru shouted, taking off across the Wing Road directly at the fearsome mutant. Her cyborg arm rotated at high-speed, ready to drill through the monster's outer defenses when they hit -

"_Shoot__!" _

The creature raised its head towards them, mighty jaws wet with drool, when the two forwards' attacks struck it simultaneously. Subaru's metal fist slammed into the side of its jaw, drilling through flesh and bone, whilst Tiana's concentrated fire caught it right between the eyes. The mutant twisted in agony, roaring to the skies and scything the air with claws that could flatten a whole squadron with one blow.

"_Divine Buster__!"_ the blue-haired mage screamed, releasing the spell into the creature's open mouth at point-blank range.

The recoil from the energy blast was tremendous, exploding forth in all directions as Subaru quickly reversed the direction of her blades and shot back across the Wing Road to avoid the explosion. Blinded by Tiana's attack and fatally wounded as Subaru's spell penetrated through the back of its throat in one go, the mutant staggered backwards and whipped its deadly tail in a full circle, gashing anyone who got too close.

Breathing heavily from the exertion, Subaru landed back on her feet next to Tiana, who was trying to cool her gun off. The monster was crawling away from the vaults, wildly slashing out as it tried to strike out at its unseen enemy.

"What _is_ that thing?" Tiana said thoughtfully, reaching out with Cross Mirage to finish the beast off before it did any more damage.

"A manticore," came a soft pale voice from out of the voice around them, full of warmth and an unhealthy amount of solitude.

The unexpected answer startled the two forwards, and they raised their weapons defensively in front of them at once, combing the area for any sign of life. The lack of _any_ presence whatsoever was unnerving. Tiana prided herself on being the best out of them all in detecting an opponent trying to creep up on you, whether they were invisible or not. Yet even she could not detect the slightest sign of life around them...

"Who's there?" Subaru shouted, keeping the Divine Buster charged up in her left hand in case she needed it. "Show yourself!"

A reluctant sigh came out of the haze around them, and then the lonely figure of a tall old man appeared in the air before them. Shrewd grey-white hair covered his matt of a face, from which small tired eyes peered at them from within; eyes which also were bright with fervour. He wore plain white clothes from head to toe, and appeared to be unarmed.

He was also floating in mid-air about a metre above the roof before them. Tiana narrowed her eyes suspiciously: her senses were _still_ telling her that nobody was standing before her.

Convinced, she fired directly at the old man without a word. The energy bullet struck him and continued its trajectory through him as the image of the man shuddered and vanished away into the air.

"An illusion?" Subaru whispered.

A moment later, the old man re-appeared again, only this time he was walking side-by-side across the edge of the roof. The white clothes were replaced by garments of deep indigo.

"You mustn't do that, child," he said with a warm smile parting his cracked lips. "It is not the greatest of courtesies."

_"__Divine Buster__!" _

The pent-up energy held quivering in Subaru's fist was released all at once again. Once again, the illusion vanished again as the spell shot right through it, only to re-appear at a different angle, again with slightly differently-coloured clothes.

"Or that," the old man cautioned, holding up a finger warningly. "Is this any way to treat your elders?" He smiled again without malice. "But I respect your own skills, children. You did well in pushing away my Manticore."

"You're the summoner," Tiana said hotly, her hands tightening around Cross Mirage. "All the beasts attacking the vault are creatures you summoned!"

The old man clapped his hands merrily. "Of course. But now they will all go home." He put his hand to his ear mockingly. "Hear that, children? The sound of sil- ah, almost silence. But you will notice that my creations will no longer trouble you."

He was right. Where there had been the roars of terrible monsters besieging the walls of the vault and battling against Bureau mages only a minute ago, there was now silence except for the cries of the wounded below. Even the giant mutant that Tiana and Subaru had defeated – the Manticore, as this man called it – seemed to have disappeared completely.

Subaru stepped forward purposely towards the apparition. "Who are you?" she said quietly, ready to strike at the first sign of any threat. "Why are you doing this?"

The old man chuckled. "My name is Grylmark. Grylmark the Third, if you please." He sighed. "But alas, children, I fear that you will forget me in time. The living drift away like leaves in the wind."

The image of Grylmark flickered momentarily and began to fade away.

"Stop!" the blue-haired mage cried, rushing forward towards the edge of the roof towards the old man. "You're under arrest under the authority of the Time-Space Administration Bu- "

The old man's eyes twinkled and he smiled. "I have no time for your petty games. My part in this is complete. The decoy has succeeded. Goodbye, children...it was a pleasure talking to you."

In the next instant, the image had disappeared completely. The summoner had escaped, along with the monsters that he had brought with him. With his departure, the air seemed strangely empty. The two of them felt a chill wrap around their bones, and quickly transformed back into their usual uniforms, letting their devices slip back into their original forms.

_ Summoner and illusionist in one, _Tiana thought to herself as they stood there strangely on the roof with the wind blowing about their hair. _Or there was another illusionist helping him. That was why I couldn't detect him at all. There's someone out there who's better at illusion magic than I am._

The attack on the vault had ceased completely, just like Grylmark had promised. The walls still stood firm, though they had taken a severe beating from the blows of the Manticore. But the effects and consequences that issued as a result would be felt for a long time to come. Quickly, Tiana and Subaru hurried back down the steps to see to the wounded. There were people who still needed their help.

* * *

With every step, it felt like the ground was scorched beneath her feet. Calm and bitter winds blew her hair across her eyes, eyes that burned crimson with deep emotion. Her heart was tight against her chest, boiling within a fiery torrent as her muscles clenched in preparation.

Fate raised Bardiche in Zanber Mode up high onto her shoulders. When she chose to, she could slice that slimy lizard in half. Her mind was still numb with shock, lost in an ocean in which she was drowning without anyone to save her. Falling away into darkness, and screaming one person's name: _Nanoha._ The only reason her body hadn't given up on her already was because of the closeness of her personal connection to Bardiche. Bardiche knew what she wanted.

_I'll save her just like she saved me, once before. Nanoha, I'll bring you back. Back to me and Vivio. We're all waiting to see you again._

"Fate-san?" Caro called out from above, seated astride Fried. "What do you want us to do? Isn't this creature one of the attackers?"

_Nothing,_ Fate's inner voice whispered, _I'll take care of this._

But then she remembered who was right there in front of her, along with the monster who had taken away her light in the world. The two children she had brought up herself with all the love and affection she had possessed. Erio and Caro. The love that her own mother had never given her had been the love she had passed onto them.

Her mind snapped back out of its reverie. _Nanoha._ No. Reason. Recklessness. Remember where you stand. The three of us have the creature surrounded. If we work together, then we should be able to -

_Nanoha._

Fate's hands trembled as she lowered Bardiche to the ground, although she didn't relax her grip on the hilt. _Stay in control. Don't lose it. Vivio may be your daughter now, but the first real children you ever had are watching you right now. Do as you've always done._

But not before she could know the answers to the most critical questions of all.

"What happened to Nanoha?" she breathed, the words choking in her throat. "What did you do to her?"

Srethis cocked its scaly head over to one side and tested its one good wing. It worked expertly, but one wing would not allow it to get off the ground. Especially not at maximum speed. One mage in front of it and two mages at its back. On a dragon, no less. The reptile did not like these kinds of odds one little bit; everything had been going so well. Why, it had almost thought that it would _survive..._

"Srethis told you," it said staticly, hunching into a cat-like position. "The Nanoha you saw died in the past. Now she is no more."

Erio and Caro stared wide-eyed at the reptile in astonishment.

"I-in the _past?_" Erio said, shocked. "But...Nanoha can't be dead..." The red-haired boy shook his head adamantly. "Fate-san, what is that creature talking about? Nanoha was with you, wasn't she?"

It took everything she had to bottle in the rush of emotions inside her right then. Her teeth bit hard into her bottom lip, a trickle of blood dripping down her chin. Fate shut her eyes tightly, feeling tears form at the edges, refusing to let them show.

"Srethis does not know how to lie," the reptile hissed. There was no sign of the malicious smile from before, as if it had given up on that tactic. Instead, its emerald eyes narrowed. "And Srethis is not responsible for her death. That...was the act of an entity in the past."

Fate's eyes sprang open instantly. "Who?" she snapped. "Who _did_ this?" She lifted Bardiche into the air in a single instant, and whipped it out at arms-length so that it was inches away from Srethis' throat. "Answer me!"

The reptile laughed softly, a deep growl in its throat. "Kill me," it said with an definite sadness to its voice. "It will make things much easier for Srethis in the long run."

"Fate-san!" Cario cried in alarm.

Srethis' eyes blazed, and one of its scaled arms shot down straight onto the end of Bardiche at its throat. Its entire body contracted, and with a single snap of that wrist it hurtled itself into the air as Fate swung her weapon towards it furiously. The reptile struck out with its other wrist in mid-somersault and hit the flat of the blade, halting Fate's attack and deflecting the blow. Then it kicked off from the Zanber with one powerful leg, propelling itself directly at the blonde Enforcer.

Startled at this sudden display of acrobatics, Fate switched Bardiche to her other hand and slammed her silver-plated gauntlet up in an hard uppercut, whirling in a spinning kick to lash out with her weapon in a wide circle. Srethis took the punch in the palm of its talons, backing away to recuperate, but the sudden Zanber slash cut into one of its shins.

With angry hiss, the reptile dropped to one knee, eyes burning. Fate relaxed her hold on Bardiche at last.

"Surrender now and nobody will hurt you," she said, the lethal anger from just a minute ago completely evaporated within her. Her emotions were back under control again. The calmness was returning to her at last, the colour coming back into her face. "You are under arrest for the impersonation and instigation of several attacks upon high-ranking TSA officials. If you do not have anything to say in your defence, you will be escorted to the Bureau interrogation cells for investigation into your actions against - "

Srethis' right claw scythed against her cheek all of a sudden. One moment the creature had been lying wounded and defeated on the ground in front of her; the next moment it was up in the air again, slashing at her mercilessly. Dazed, Fate brought up Bardiche to defend herself. _Damn it. My opponent's attacking too fast for me to get a clear hit in. And Erio and Caro are probably afraid that if they use Fried to attack with Beast Flare, then they might hit me. I just need to get a spell in to get my bearings. If I wasn't so distracted about Nanoha..._

The thought sparked her determination. Bardiche slashed to the side in a feint, allowing her other hand to curve round to the right and grasp Srethis off the ground by the throat. She lifted the reptile as it struggled and smashed its head into the ground.

Woozily, the creature shook itself slightly, barely hurt at all, and leaped up again. But Fate hadn't been trying to hurt it. She had bought the time she needed.

"_Plasma Smasher__!"_

The destructive energy expelled from her palm hit Srethis at point-blank range and sent it flying backwards several metres. The reptile staggered to its feet, smoke rising off its flesh, the scales burned white-hot.

Then it started running back at her again, claws curling around towards her face again. Startled at its resilience, Fate changed back to Assault Form, whipping Bardiche around to parry.

The attack never came; it was a feint. Instead, a sharp kick whacked across the side of her ear, narrowly missing her eye, and in the next moment Srethis had kicked off from the shaft of her weapon, rocketing in the other direction...towards Erio and Caro.

But the forwards were already moving in action, guiding Fried down towards Srethis as the reptile attacked in desperation. There was no time for Beast Flare, not at this range -

"_Boost Up.__Strike Power__!" _Caro chanted, as the glow of her magic deepened around Erio and his own weapon.

The red-headed boy stood up high on the dragon, raising Strada in preparation, now that his attack power had been accentuated.

Srethis hissed angrily at the two children barring its way to freedom. As Fried dived low towards it, the reptile slashed one foot down, stepping across the dragon's face to sprint across, claws extended in anticipation. Caro's eyes widened in fear as it swooped down towards her, the girl backing away as she tried to cast another spell -

Erio sprang forward, the lance in his hands pulsating from magic fire.

"_Purple Lightning Flash__!" _he cried, and struck in a curved arc which impaled the reptile from front to back. Srethis's body jerked as blood spurted out from its midriff and mouth, clawing at the weapon. It choked as its lungs filled up with blood, gasping and twitching.

Appalled, Erio whipped Strada forward so that Srethis' body slid off and onto the ground about a metre below them. The reptile turned as the impact hit it hard, feeling bones shatter. It clutched at its wound, struggling to get to its feet. The Bureua mages around it looked on in complete astonishment as Srethis placed one hand to its stomach, a white pulsing light glowing within its talons, sealing away the bleeding...

_Restoration magic? _Fate thought, stepping forward with Bardiche raised high, charging up the spell she had been preparing whilst Erio and Caro had been fighting the reptile. _After all that damage it took, it's all going to be for nothing? I've got to end this now. _

Bardiche was in Assault Form, blazing to the sky in golden colours. It had been some time since Fate had used this spell. Not since the Book of Darkness incident. Of course, she had other similar spells now, but Hayate was the one who specialised in wide-area magic, and now...

She felt the power grow within her, escalating to its peak. Before her, Srethis panted as it struggled to heal its wounds, its eyes widening as it saw the scale of the power being summoned down upon it. Its reptilian eyes darted here and there, searching for an exit, still gasping for breath.

Fate closed her eyes and initiated the spell, unleashing its fury.

"_PLASMA ZANBER BREA__ - "_

_ "_Wait!" Srethis cried unexpectedly, collapsing on the soiled ground.

Fate paused in mid-spell, looking down upon her opponent disapprovingly. The energy surged within Bardiche, waiting to be released. Waiting to rain down and finish this once and for all.

"Srethis surrenders," the reptile panted, barely able to move from the stomach wound. "Srethis outnumbered, admits defeat." It groaned as it turned over, slumping over to one side. "Have pity on Srethis?"

**Grylmark didn't come out quite as I wanted to portray him to be...sigh.**

**And Srethis was initially supposed to be modelled after the Khajit races from the Elder Scroll games. But somehow he ended up sounding like Gollum. i don't know really.  
**


	8. Aftermath

**I'm sorry for the long wait! Here it is. :) I've currently planned up to Chapter 12, so this will still keep going.  
**

Multicoloured lights shone onto the crystal pillar from above. Reflecting off into the distance at every angle, their radiance could only be received indirectly. If there were walls and a ceiling, then they were not visible to the human eye. The twinkling of multiple colours soared across the multitude of space and time wherever you turned to look – north, west, south, east, downwards, up to the peaceful pleasant sky. Everything extended from the one object in this plane of existence – this solitary pillar of crystal, unsupported by anything yet undeniably a key to the support of everything else that lived here.

A dishevelled figure in dark robes stepped out of thin air and collapsed on the ground right next to the pillar, black and green hair tumbling over their face. The lights flickered at their arrival, blinking as they monitored her.

"Exoria," the female voice said, calling out from far above. "It is almost good for you to make an appearance here."

The Time Mage was breathing heavily on the ground, or at least what passed for an invisible floor. The world continued beneath her, rolling on like the tides of time. Her eyes were wild and crazed, exhaustion clouding her judgement as she struggled to get to her feet.

"However," the voice continued, lights flashing consistently around it in small sounds and noises, "it seems that you have a lot to answer for." The woman's tone turned sharp, irate. "I do not recall telling you to execute Yagami Hayate."

Exoria had sufficient breath in her to raise herself to one knee, glaring upwards with hate-filled eyes. "She would have interfered with us even further," she said fiercely. "If I hadn't gone back to eliminate her once and for all, she would have found a way by herself and - "

"If you hadn't gone back so foolishly," the female voice said crisply, "then she would have been trapped in the past, forever. Even present Mid-childa does not possess the power of Oguba, the ability to travel between time periods." The lights dulled black for a split second, momentarily plunging the entire system into darkness before they lit up again. "I do not understand your thought process, Exoria. Why did you go to so much trouble to try and destroy her, when her involvement in her plans was barely minimal? What would that achieve in the long-term?"

The robed girl gave no reply, her breath hissing out through tightly-clenched teeth as she forced herself to contain herself. Far above, the lights seemed to dismiss her.

"In any case, it was a foolish move and one which you should not repeat," the high female voice said coolly. "Not only did you make the grave mistake of trying to take on the Queen of the Night Sky single-handed, but you used up an extensive amount of magical energy in making your escape."

Exoria spat on the ground before her in contempt. "I am recovering as we speak," she snapped. "I'll have all my time spells back before the day's out."

"And yet we do not have _time,_" the voice retorted. "Since you decided to run off on your own so carelessly, one of our more valued members has been stranded in an earlier time era." The lights dimmed once more. "Perhaps you may even remember your error."

Exoria blinked in confusion. "Are you talking about Srethis?" she asked.

The sky was a blaze of indigo-white. "No. _Srethis_ is no longer our concern, being by far the weakest and most insignificant member of this organisation. Their capture by the TSA was expected. Srethis' reliance on certain chemical substances for survival has been costing us, and..." The female voice trailed off for a moment. "No, I am talking about my Legion, who has been altogether more competent in their duties than you have been."

_Legion? _For a moment Exoria still didn't understand, her mind still filled with Hayate and how she would get back at her when she was fully recovered. But then it came to her in a flash.

"I left the Legion in the past?" she stammered. "But..."

Orange-glow of resentment, flashing at her left and right. "Yes. My Legion did not accept Oguba's powers like you did, and when you transported them to the past to execute Takamachi Nanoha, you _left them there._ Unable to return to us."

_Oops. _Exoria cursed inwardly for not taking this in sooner. The Legion was the most esteemed member and personal favourite of her superior. You could tell from how she spoke about them. Especially how she always referred to them as _My Legion._

"I'll go back and get them back then," she muttered distractedly, though she still felt weak and woozy from extensive spell use. "It'll only take a - "

"You will do no such thing," the voice commanded. "You will need to cast a Time Slip once to reach my Legion, and a second time to get back. And you have not sufficiently recovered to be able to do that. I will not take any risks with my Legion." Her tone indicated that the decision was final. "Rest and recover. Ungore can take care of this."

The Time Mage nearly choked. "_Ungore?_" she spluttered. "That...why...Ungore is barely able to cast even _one_ time spell! You would actually - "

"I believe Ungore can manage on their own," the female voice said coldly, "unlike, perhaps, yourself."

Defeated, Exoria slumped back again. She was still angry about being forced to run away from Hayate after having such high hopes for defeating her. Her superior – no, none of the others would be able to understand why her need to rid the world of Hayate was so great. It was essential for her. Oguba's powers had given her that one hope.

She had wondered why none of the others were present right now. Srethis had been captured, the Legion had been trapped in the past thanks to her mistake, Ungore hadn't been called up yet, and Grylmark...

"Wait..." She fought to regain her footing again. "Grylmark should be here. His attack on the Bureau vaults, the decoy, was a success. Why isn't he here?"

The lights returned to their normal shade once more. "Because he has no need to be. Grylmark is not one of us, and thus we cannot trust him. His abilities, however, are useful for our scenarios."

The female voice was back to her calm, ceaseless tone once more, and Exoria felt herself relax despite herself. "Go back and rest, Exoria," her superior said, almost gently, although the robed girl seriously doubted that their leader was capable of such emotion. "Despite your mistakes, this mission has been a success. The TSA is still crippled and will not realise what is missing until it is too late." The lights in the sky began to fade away, the glow of the crystal pillar descending into shadow. "I will have to report our progress to our client, of course. She will undoubtedly be satisfied with the current result."

* * *

It was several hours later before order had been completely restored at the Time-Space Administration Bureau. With the retreat of the strange mutant attackers at the vault, the defence line was gradually able to reform as communication channels were re-opened to repair the heavy damage. Mariel and Shari were continually rushing back and forth, bringing into view just how much impact that the attack had had on the Bureau.

Chrono Harlaown had come down to the base in person, treating the entire matter as if Scaglietti and the Numbers had come back again. In a sense, it was somewhat worse. Their internal security had been hacked into expertly, one of their top commanders had been kidnapped and replaced by an imposter, a powerful attack had been launched against the vaults of the Lost Logia themselves...and Nanoha was no longer with them.

By the time Hayate returned to the main control room, it was all over. Chrono had control of the entire situation, issuing commands across the whole base to make sure that their defences were strengthened before any other rival factions could take advantage of their temporary weakness. It had happened before, after all. The wounded were already being treated by Shamal and the other medical teams, with Subaru and Tiana working hard to reinforce the perimeter in every way they could.

The reptile who called itself Srethis had been arrested by Fate and confined to a one-room interrogation cell. Needless to say, everyone had been eager to find out the answers to their questions from this strange creature, their only lead to the events of that day. Yet it would soon prove to only further their disappointment.

Investigations were still continuing as to the motives of those who had attacked the vault of the Lost Logias. Rumours speculated that their adversary had even stolen some of the powerful magical artifacts themselves, but the information in front of them disputed that. The mutants had not made it into the vaults. Whoever had attacked them could not have gained any of the Lost Logias at all...which made their motives for doing so continually more confusing.

To Hayate's dismay, Chrono had not been very sympathetic with her side of the story. Of course, he had worked with the TSA since he had been a young boy, and had become quite set in certain routines and procedures with the Bureau which concerned time travel – the main one being that it could not exist.

"Let me get this straight," he said disbelievingly, once the reinforcing of the perimeter was well under way and the worst seemed to be over with. "You travelled back in time by ten years, then travelled forward to the present again, and then spent the rest of the time chasing a girl who has time-travelling powers."

"I lost her," Hayate said in despair. "I almost had her, but then she managed to create another one of those portals and disappeared through it before I could - "

She became aware that the admiral was looking at her with severe scepticism. Helplessly, she tried to think of another more convincing way to put it, but nothing came to mind.

"Hayate," Chrono said tiredly, "time travel is _impossible. _It's one of the first things I learned back when I first joined the TSA, when all the talk of Alhazard was floating around. I would like to believe you, but nothing you say makes any sense." He sighed and rubbed sleep out of his eyes. "I still find it strange that you were so convinced that you travelled in time when - "

"Do you think I would make this kind of stuff up?" the short-haired mage cried in protest. "Listen to me. One of the people who attacked the Bureau has the ability to travel through _time_. This is really important, Chrono. Who knows what else they're capable of?"

Chrono closed his eyes for a moment, looking very much as if he were trying to make a decision that he didn't want to. Eventually, he said, "I only have your word for this."

Hayate's eyes flashed in anger. "And my word isn't good enough?"

"That's not what I meant. I..." Chrono rubbed his forehead achingly, the stress of the last few hours showing clearly in his face. "Hayate, we've been attacked by unknown forces. We barely have anything to go on except this reptile that Fate brought in. I can't get anything out of her because...she keeps crying." His eyes wavered in sadness, troubled. "And now you're going on about theories about time travel, with nothing concrete to go on. I need evidence or some kind of fact-driven research which could give us a real clue. I mean, let's say the impossible did happen and you _did_ go back in time. Let's say time travel _is_ possible. That kind of thought doesn't magically give us the ability to travel through time too. The Bureau has been researching this kind of thing ever since it came into existence. I don't know what you expect me to do, Hayate."

"Surely _anything_ can help," Hayate argued stubbornly. "Because if you believe what I say, then time travel exists. Just knowing that is sufficient reason. Chrono - "

The blue-haired admiral shook his head. "I would like to believe that. I really would, Hayate. But I guess my instincts run deep. And the time and resources we have right now would best be suited to making sure we have our defences and security back at full strength. I don't know if I can risk diverting any of our strength right now."

He stood up from the controls, gathering his papers about him decisively. "Anyway, I want to focus on the one real lead we have right now. Now that we've managed to secure the perimeter for now, there's the matter of the prisoner that Fate captured."

Hayate nodded swiftly. "The reptile that was impersonating me and hacked into our system so easily? I understand. You want me to help interrogate it with you."

"Please," the blue-haired mage said gratefully. "I know your skills may be more suited to keeping control and order in the Bureau, but for some reason you were one of the main targets leading up to the attack." He took a deep breath, not wanting to say what was on his mind. "I would usually ask Nanoha to do this, but…"

A cold, unsettling feeling of unease settled in Hayate's stomach at these words. Nanoha. Nobody had seen her at all since the assault on the Bureau, and rumours had already begun to circulate regarding her disappearance. It wasn't helping the morale of the TSA, especially since Fate had also become unnaturally cold and distant towards any questions about Nanoha. Hayate's return was probably one of the few things keeping everyone's spirits together after they had been shattered by the sudden attack. The break-up of the Three Aces did not speak of better things to come.

Wordlessly, she followed Chrono out of the control room, where Shari and the rest of the staff were issuing updates and reports on the progress in recovery, and crossed down the corridor, taking the lift up to the higher floors of the Bureau. Hayate kept the smile as she saw soldiers and mages that she recognised, people who were genuinely relieved to see that she was back with them again. If they saw just how anxious and worried she was about Nanoha then it wouldn't help matters at all.

It grew increasingly difficult to do so, however, as the two of them passed through several levels of security clearance and ID scans towards the main interrogation cells of the Bureau. They were in more common use than the higher-ups liked to make out; illegal perpetrators of excavation of the Lost Logias were the main occupants of these rooms, and as far back as the JS Incident, the Numbers had temporarily been housed here before many of them were to undergo rehabilitation into the world again.

Signum was waiting for them outside the third door on the left, watching through the transparent screen into the prisoner's chambers. She stood to attention as Chrono approached, her eyes brightening up with a mixture of relief and happiness when she saw Hayate. Hayate smiled sadly, wondering what it must have been like for the Wolkenritter in her absence.

"At ease, Signum," Chrono said, weary of the formal procedure. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting here so long after dragging you away from your other duties."

"It's fine," said the swordswoman placidly. "Watching a shapeshifting lizard in a cell makes a change from the norm." She turned to look at Srethis' hunched-over form in the single empty room. "Fate-san has been in there with it for the past few hours, but she said she wouldn't start interrogating before you came. I don't know what she might have said to it but the lizard hasn't really reacted at all." She stared on through the one-way sheet of glass, her eyes clouded. "It just curls up like that and hisses in the third person occasionally."

"I see." Chrono sighed, straightening his uniform momentarily. "That's why Hayate's going to be here. Srethis, as it calls itself, would know who she was." He cocked his head to the side and looked at the short-haired mage good-naturedly. "Maybe it will be more willing to talk around you, if not the rest of us."

Hayate shrugged. "I'll do my best." _But I'm not looking forward to this. I want to know what it knows about Nanoha, but I can't shake this feeling that something's wrong. _"Well, let's do this."

Signum stepped forward to unlock the door, but as she did so, the eyes of the two girls met. "Hayate…" she said in a low voice. "I'm…I'm glad you're back."

The former commander of Riot Force 6 came forward and wrapped her friend in a close hug, her arms around her waist. The difference in heights was such that she couldn't reach up much higher, but she could tell Signum was touched by the sentiment. "I guess you missed me," she said happily.

"We all did," the red-haired swordswoman said seriously. "After we found out there was an imposter, we realised just how long we had spent without you. And I…I didn't know if you were going to come back again."

"I was only gone for a day," Hayate teased her. But at the same time, she thought, _And I was complaining to Nanoha about being lonely the last time I saw her. How I wanted to be with her and __Fate again. Did I forget about Signum and Vita the others? The first friends I ever had, the ones who stood with me from the beginning? Maybe I'm the one who's been abandoning _them.

Chrono cleared his throat dramatically as they continued their embrace. "Ladies, please," he said politely. "Fate's waiting for us to join her inside."

_Fate? _Hayate's face slackened and she quickly released Signum. _This isn't going to be easy._

* * *

Fate's eyes were semi-closed within the shade of her long blonde hair as she leaned against the opposing wall. She was not in uniform, but was clad in her Barrier Suit and mage's clothes, just like she had been in the middle of the fighting before. She had simply chosen not to transform back into her normal uniform. Her hands were clenched tightly around Bardiche like a lifeline, her muscles tensing and relaxing every now and then as if barely suppressing an inner turmoil.

It broke Hayate's heart to see her like this. Gently, she touched her friend's arm and guided her to sit down with them at the table. Fate's eyes flicked open at the contact, but she complied nonetheless upon seeing the hurt in Hayate's eyes.

Chrono took a seat along with the pair of them, glancing uneasily at Fate. She was broken inside at whatever had happened to Nanoha; anyone could see that. And the best way to help her was to …

"Srethis," he said.

The winged reptile curled up on the floor opened a single eye and fixed him with its emerald gaze.

"I am Chrono Harlaown, admiral of the gunship _Asura_ and board member of the Time-Space Administration Bureau." The blue-haired mage placed his hands openly on the table, unsure about quite how to approach this. Force and persuasion might equally be useless given the way Fate was now. "My companions are Fate Harlaown, Enforcer of the Interstellar Navigation Bureau, and Yagami Hayate of – "

The creature spat on the ground in front of them.

"Srethis knows who you are," it growled.

Hayate dug her fingernails into her hand to calm herself down. She was worried about Fate. The Enforcer hadn't made a sound or shown any kind of emotion since they had entered the room. She reassured herself that Signum was keeping close guard from outside, monitoring what might happen.

Chrono made an attempt at relaxing the tension a little, but he wasn't very successful. "We would like to ask you some questions."

Slowly, the lizard began to uncurl itself out of its semi-foetal position. It stretched its claws out around it, extending its wings to touch the walls of the room and drew itself up until it was sitting upon its haunches. There was no sign of any of its injuries from the fighting before – it must have regenerated hours ago.

"Firstly," Chrono began, "who – or what – are you?" His face deepened into a frown. "Our database has files on every single citizen of every planet that the TSA presides over. You're not on our files. We don't know what you are. We don't even know what species you are."

Srethis regarded him coolly for a moment, flexing its talons.

"Your questionss are foolissh," it said quietly. "Srethis hass no business with your questions."

Chrono kept his voice deliberately calm. "You're not going to answer us?"

"Answer," Srethis repeated mimicly. "Answerss. No. Srethiss answer questions, Bureau hass information, Bureau kill Srethiss. Srethis die. No."

"Nobody's going to kill you," Hayate said swiftly, keeping her gaze away from Fate with an effort. "We'd just like you to tell us what's going on."

The reptile's green eyes shot towards her as she spoke, transfixing her for a second. Its eyes seemed to grow wider and more intense, its claws scraping against its rough scales with a harsh sound that grated on the ears.

"Srethis knows you," it said softly. "Srethis was taught about you for a long long time. How to be you. How to speak like you. How to move like you. How to walk like you. How to be, Yagami Hayate." It bowed its head in a gesture which could have a variety of different meanings. "Srethis _knows_ you."

Hayate raised her head, pushing back the sudden rush invoked inside of her. "Is that so?" she said critically. "But I don't know you." A sense of opportunity caught her at the side of her mind. "Would you care to tell me, Srethis?"

She felt Chrono looking at her in wonder, although there was no real reaction from Fate at the other end of the table. The lizard inclined its head to one side as if to nod, yet mocking them at the same time.

"What would the Queen of the Night Sky ask of Srethis?" it enquired with softened grace.

There was a soft, metallic _thud_ as Bardiche hit the floor.

"Where is Nanoha?" Fate whispered, holding the Zanber at arm's length so that the razor-sharp tip brushed at the reptile's throat. "What have you done with her?"

Hayate went pale, barely able to comprehend what she was seeing. The Fate she knew did not act this way. On the other hand, the Fate she knew had never been without Nanoha at her side.

"Fate, control yourself!" Chrono said angrily, looking furious. "Killing won't achieve anything here!"

The blonde mage ignored him and pushed the Zanber forward, gently. Beads of green fluid – undoubtedly the colour of the reptile's blood – dripped around the side of the prisoner's scaly neck.

"I think I've been very patient," Fate said in that same low tone. "I'm going to count down from ten, and when I get to zero, you, you are going to talk to me." She inclined the blade at an angle, twisting it in the faint wound. "I'm going to count down from ten, and I'm going to count in fives."

Srethis' face had gone quite impassive as it stared up at her. It cocked its head over to one side and said nothing.

"_Fate!_" Hayate cried, reaching over to restrain her. "This isn't you. Stop this!"

Fate closed her eyes. "Ten."

"Let her kill Srethiss," the lizard said matter-of-factly. "Her lover is long-dead. Srethis understands the need for revenge."

"Five," Fate said in a hardened tone, her hand clenching around the hilt.

Chrono got to his feet. "Fate, we don't kill prisoners here. Put Bardiche down. _Now – "_

"_Zero,_" she breathed, and ripped Srethis' throat out in one go.

The reptile's body was spun off to the side unceremoniously by the impact of the blow, green fluid gushing from its neck. Gurgling, it grasped at the fatal wound with its claws as if it was being strangled, falling over backwards, its body twitching against the cell walls. The wings bent back into its back again, folding away again as a faint glow stemmed from its talons and into its throat. The wound began to close as the torrent of blood slowed. Gradually, Srethis came back to its feet again, gasping for breath.

Torn between horror and relief, Hayate stared from Fate's dangerously calm features to the prisoner that had almost died. She didn't know what to think.

"I thought that would happen," the blonde mage said, sheathing Bardiche at long last and returning to her normal uniform.

Chrono looked like he was going to explode.

"What are you _playing_ at here?" he demanded. "Fate, you almost destroyed our only lead! What if you were wrong and Srethis had died on the spot?"

Fate closed her eyes as if in thought. "I minimised the amount of magic power I channelled into Bardiche, and nulled the impact range. And the reptile has restorative magic. Nobody was going to die." She pressed her fingers into her right temple as if in pain herself.

Hayate noticed a figure at the door and saw Signum's concerned face ready to help, Leviathan ready in her hands. Mournfully she shook her head, and the red-haired mage returned to her post.

"Fate, you scared me to death," she said seriously. "Don't ever do that kind of thing again. Please."

The Enforcer sighed, her face downcast. "I'm sorry, Hayate. But I need Nanoha back. She made a promise to Vivio. If I'm going to get her back, I need to show that I'm serious." She raised her eyes to the lizard in front of them. "And you know that now, don't you?"

Srethis was eyeing her warily, all trace of mocking now gone from its tone. "Srethis will ansswer your questionss," it said reluctantly. "Though Srethis regretss that it cannot be of much help."

"What do you mean?" Hayate asked worriedly.

The lizard gave a throaty chuckle. "You are unlucky. You captured Srethis becausse Srethis is nothing to them. They let you have Srethis because they know that Srethis knowss nothing." A sad grin stretched out across its face. "And now Srethis is alone and left to die. Away from _tomadachi_, away from _nakama,_ away from…from medicine…"

* * *

They questioned Srethis into the late hours of the night. With every minute that passed, the gravity of their situation became more and more pressing upon them. Hayate didn't need to look at Fate to see that she was getting increasingly agitated as they continued to make no progress. Thanks to her, their prisoner answered each of their questions, but not in the way that they had hoped.

It was nearly midnight when Chrono left them alone to themselves, taking away Srethis to be moved to another cell under heavy guard. Hayate's heart ached as she watched the blonde mage pace up and down, noticing that she still hadn't let go of Bardiche. Without Nanoha, Bardiche was the closest thing she had. Except for Arf, and Arf was far away from here now.

Srethis' answers had become increasingly frustrating. Its knowledge of the attack upon the Bureau was extremely limited. It claimed that the people it worked with gave it the barest of details and told it nothing about the bigger picture so that it knew about as much of the operation as anyone in the TSA did. Srethis explained that its instructions for the mission handed to it were to impersonate Hayate and hack into the TSA network. Escape routes had not been important. From the start, Srethis had known it was a suicide mission.

In addition, it had not been the first of these "missions" that Srethis had been ordered to carry out. When questioned about previous similar arrangements, the lizard's answers grew more slurred and vague. As if it could not remember them very well. Even when quizzed about where it came from and what race it was, what planet it hailed from, Srethis looked confused and dazed at the question. It shook its head and complained about a headache, and about needing its "medicine".

Things went downhill very much from there on.

"Fate, you're exhausted," Hayate said softly, walking over to the Enforcer and wrapping her arms around her. "You need to go home to Vivio."

"I can't," Fate said quietly. "Not until I've brought Nanoha back." She wiped the side of her face, out of view. "Nanoha promised her yesterday that she'd come home for her, without fail. And now...this." Her voice was choked with sobs. "I...I can't face Vivio like this, Hayate...I can't come home to her and tell her that Nanoha might not be coming home at all..."

Hayate brought her face to hers insistently, staring into those tear-streaked red eyes. "That's not true," she said. "You really believe what Srethis said? That she died in the past?"

"I don't know what to believe," Fate breathed, folding into her shoulder. "I saw Nanoha disappear in front of me with my own eyes, Hayate. As if she...as if it really was true. The way it happened, it was if she really was gone forever..."

Hayate cradled her face into her shoulder for several moments, stroking her long hair down the back of her neck. _But she isn't gone. She can't be. If I was able to travel back into the past, then why shouldn't we able to save Nanoha from her fate? _

"Fate, do you believe in time travel?" she asked, keeping her voice level.

Her blonde friend pulled herself free from her, breathing rapidly. "I wish I did," she said, seeming slightly more recovered now that she had got some of the tears out. "Is it true what Chrono told me?"

"That I went back in time? Yes." Hayate had no doubt in her mind about what had happened. "It sounds crazy and impossible. Chrono doesn't believe me yet, but Rein was with me too." Rein was conveniently asleep now. The two of them might have to persuade him tomorrow. "A girl called Exoria took me back in time ten years so that Srethis could take my place temporarily. Exoria called herself a Time Mage. And now Srethis claims that Nanoha died in the past. Anyone can see that there's a connection, Fate."

The Enforcer gave a short laugh, without humour. "So now you want me to believe in time-travel. And that our opponents used time-travel to take Nanoha away from us forever, like they almost took you away forever." Fate shook her head in wonder, brushing blonde streaks out of her face. "It's a crazy and wonderful idea, Hayate, but it doesn't add up."

The short-haired mage was surprised at that. "Why not?"

"Well, if time-travel were possible at all...people would have used it a long time ago," Fate said sadly. She didn't say so, but the look in her eyes was distant, stretching back to her childhood. To Precia. Alhazard. "And...if someone had gone back in time to erase Nanoha, then why are we standing here now? Nanoha saved lives and changed people, Hayate. The Book of Darkness. The JS Incident. Riot Force 6 wouldn't have come together without her help." She looked at Hayate helplessly. "Do you understand? If you changed the past, there would be huge consequences."

"And nothing has happened," Hayate said slowly, nodding. "The only thing that changed...was that Nanoha isn't here anymore."

She sat back down, more confused than ever. She had been so sure that time travel had been the answer. What about Exoria, then? Srethis' words, that it claimed burned with truth? There was something deeper going on here, but -

"I still think you're onto something, though," Fate said with a smile, reaching down to embrace her. "Time travel. If there's ever a shred of hope, then shouldn't we reach out for it?" She hugged her tightly, the tears on her face forgotten. "I know Chrono is a real sceptic about all of this. But I'll persuade him to at least look into this. And Yuuno-kun would be a great help in finding anything of use."

Hayate smiled back happily. "Thanks, Fate. I knew I could count on you." She kissed her lightly on the forehead. "You should hurry home right no," she whispered. "Vivio needs you more than ever."

An anguished look came into the blonde mage's eyes, but she shook it away quickly. "I know. I'll be there for her until we find Nanoha again." But the sadness in her eyes cautioned, _That may not be enough._

"We will find her," Hayate said with conviction. "It's a promise."

**Okay, I hope Fate wasn't too OOC there when she went temporarily yandere. Also thinking of making Signum a more main character, since Vita stole all of her screentime in StrikerS. But yeah.**


	9. Awakening

It was the early hours of the morning before Fate was able to make her way back to the house that she lived in with Nanoha and Vivio. It was a higher standard of living than they had previously enjoyed in their quarters at the Bureau, but when Vivio had entered their life it had become clear that such accommodations wouldn't do when bringing up a hyperactive six-year old. The Bureau had offered to give them a private estate by way of their extensive service to the TSA, but Nanoha would not have any of it. The down-payment offered along with a good word put in by Lindy had meant that the three of them were able to move into a more permanent home very quickly.

None of this was helping Fate now. The hot rushed feeling at the back of her throat made every passing second a constant torment. She had force herself to reach for the door handle, the key shaking in her hand.

_Vivio._

It wasn't as if their daughter had been completely alone all this time. Hayate had been quick to reassure her of that. Since they lived relatively close to the base, the attack on the Bureau had prompted evacuation measures throughout the surrounding homes, many of which served occasionally as barracks for the lower-ranking soldiers and mages. Sister Schach and Zafira had personally volunteered to safeguard her. But a bodyguard wasn't what Vivio needed right now.

_I'm sorry, Vivio. I let you down. Nanoha wanted to be with you tonight. She wanted so much to be with you. And if I could, I would have done the next best thing and been there for you instead…_

Because Vivio wasn't your average child. She wasn't completely innocent of the world. She'd survived at the hands of Scaglietti and she had probably been told about what was going on. Fate didn't want to think about how Vivio had felt when she realised that neither of her parents was going to come home to her tonight. It didn't matter if she understood the reasons why, because that kind of loneliness was all-encompassing.

_What am I going to say to her? How can I look her in the eye and tell her Nanoha isn't coming home tonight?_

Just thinking about it scared her, frightened her more than any time before when she had been fighting for her life. Vivio had lost one mother already. She didn't deserve to lose another.

But Vivio would already know the truth. The night was already gone, leaving a measure of desolation in its wake. It was past one in the morning now; Vivio would have fallen asleep hours ago, all alone in the house. Maybe Zafira or Schach may have guarded her up to the last few hours, long enough to make sure she was tucked up in bed neatly, maybe trying to tell her that Fate would be here for her before nightfall, fixing her up a bowl of her favourite…

_Vivio, I'm sorry._

She turned the key in the lock and swallowed as she pushed the front door open.

The lights were all off in the hallway, but it wasn't impossible to see through the haze of dawn. No, the house had settled down to sleep long ago. Vivio. She had to be okay.

"Vivio?" she whispered, not wanting to wake up her daughter.

She didn't switch on any of the lights, keeping the house in a dreamlike state as if by doing so she would be able to make it up to Vivio by having her sleep more soundly. She could hear her child's deep breathing, in and out, falling away in the next room. Their bedroom where she and Nanoha shared a twin bed together. Maybe Vivio just felt more comfortable sleeping in a bigger bed. Fate smiled to herself despite her misgivings and tiptoed inside.

Inside, Vivio was lying fast asleep on the side of the bed, wrapped up tight under the warm covers. She was smiling happily, as if enjoying a nice dream. The sight of her, so comfortable and content in the bed, warmed Fate's spirits to no end.

Then she saw that Vivio's arms were wrapped about someone – someone in the bed with her.

The tension re-emerging within her, Fate's heart missed a beat as she came forward. The dim light made it difficult to see. Her breath constricted as she fumbled for the light switch, moving the dimmer down to the far left to keep the light at a gradual minimum.

Her gaze shifted further forward onto the dressing table besides the bed, where a familiar precious red orb lay unmoving.

_Raging Heart?_

What was Raging Heart doing here? It didn't…it couldn't…because if Raging Heart was here, then Nanoha…

Her mind screamed within her when she saw who was in the bed with Vivio. The face of a beautiful young woman with long brunette hair falling down her neck in a silent curve. Her eyes were closed as the tip of her chin brushed Vivio's blonde hair, her mouth partway open and completely still. A face that Fate knew all too well, whose mouth she'd kissed, whose scent she'd grown to love…

"_Nano…Nanoha?!_"

Her cry came out in a choked sob, suppressed and strangled by her own fatigue and constant worry. Fate felt weak at the knees, forcing herself to go to her. The relief and happiness that came felt like it was being held back, as if part of her was pleading to say that it couldn't be true.

No. Fate held herself back still. How could…how?! Nanoha had disappeared in her arms, crumbled away as Srethis taunted her that she had died in the past. She had thought to prove them wrong, to find Nanoha herself, and find out exactly why she had –

Yes, she had found her, but why _here?_ In their bedroom? With Vivio? She had disappeared all the way back in Hayate's office…none of this made any sense…

The part of Fate that had begun to expect the worst at times told her, _She's an illusion. Nanoha isn't here. Someone's trying to break you._

She didn't like that part of her. She didn't like the voice which told her that everything she did was going to fail. It had been particularly active in her mind on the way back home, and Fate had long thought she had silenced it for good. She should have known better.

No, that's Nanoha, she thought determinedly. I'll prove it. I'd know the touch of her skin anywhere.

Slowly, Fate pressed forward and touched Nanoha's cheek with the palm of her hand. She was no illusion. She was real. She felt like the Nanoha she had always known and loved, the Nanoha who could cast all her fears and doubts away with just a smile, the Nanoha who she yearned to –

_She felt cold. Icy, to the touch. _

Fate drew her hand back with a shock. No. The house was warm. And the temperatures were moderately above average outside. Nanoha shouldn't be cold. Not…not unless…

A pang of fear gripped her heart, her breath quickening. She touched Nanoha again, feeling the same dead frost, and felt around her lover's mouth. Breathing. She's asleep, isn't she? She came back, and she fell asleep with Vivio, and…

_She's not breathing._

Fate's mind started to break down. No. Concentrate. Pulse. Remember your training. Two fingers on the side of the neck, press down upon the vein. She can't be dead. Srethis was lying to you. Keep calm, keep _calm,_ don't lose control…

Her hands were shaking too badly. She couldn't keep them still for more than a few seconds to take the pulse. _Is this why she feels so cold? Is she…?_

_ Heartbeat. Find her heart. You can listen to her heartbeat no matter how bad you're shaking. She's here, with you. She has to be._

Her own breath coming out thick and fast, the blood draining from her face, Fate pulled the covers down partway.

The worst was yet to come.

As Nanoha's skin was exposed, the dim light came down across her skin to reveal the marks on her body. Hundreds of marks, crossing down her shoulders, her neck, her cheeks…

In horror Fate threw the whole blanket off. Her lover was naked underneath, the same peculiar markings crossing her entire body all the way down to her arms, her legs, her waist…not scars, but lots and lots of tiny blue runes, as if someone had sculpted them all over her…

_Nanoha…what happened to you?_

She didn't know what to do. A silent scream started deep down inside her, but the solitary rational part of her existence right now remembered Vivio sleeping, sleeping with that beautiful smile on her face, and forced it down. No. Think, listen, run, help, find, save, rescue –

Her fingers found the phone on the dressing table, working on automatic reflex. She dialled the only number she knew how to. With everything breaking down around her, Fate clung to the only other friend who she shared so much closeness with. The faces of everyone else she knew melted away into oblivion.

The phone rang twice at the other end before it was picked up. Fate didn't know what she would have done if no one had answered. Her mind was set in a one-track direction right now, destined to follow that one path to destruction or salvation.

"Hello?" Hayate's voice came on the line.

Fate collapsed onto her knees on the hard floor. "Hayate," she whispered. "_Help me._"

* * *

_The leaves crunch underneath her feet. She is running, panting, the sense of urgency in her drawing Nanoha through to that clearing in the woods. At first she doesn't recognise it, doesn't recognise the path home from school, doesn't recognise the faces of her schoolfriends, Suzuka and Arisa, as they give chase after her. Everything is just a blur, lost in memory._

_ "Yuuno-kun?"_

_ The ferret is lying on his side, wounded from trying to seal the first of many creatures that were born from the Jewel Seeds. Raging Heart hangs securely from the collar around its neck._

_ "Do you remember this place, Nanoha?" he says. "This is the place where you first met me. The place where it all began."_

_ Nanoha looks down at herself, feeling the rush of nostalgia at seeing her old school uniform again. She must be nearly ten years younger. "Yuuno-kun, is this a dream?"_

_ The ferret shakes its head. "No. It's a hallucination created to stop you going insane. And I'm not Yuuno."_

_ Yuuno's head and body elongate and expand out unexpectedly. It's quite a sight, but Nanoha isn't quite prepared for what follows next._

_ "You're a _bear_?" she says, almost in awe._

_ "No," the bear says, plopping itself down in front of her. "But taking this form seems to help reduce your mental trauma. Your past self seems to like cute and fluffy toys. I'll keep this form until you wake up."_

_ "Wake up?" Nanoha is confused. He isn't explaining himself very clearly and it's frustrating. "But you said this isn't a dream."_

_ "No, and you're not asleep, Nanoha," says the bear. "You're dying. But I'm going to help you. I'm going to lead you to my power, and you're going to live again. But in exchange, you have to do something for me."_

_ "Wait, wait." Nanoha shakes her head, trying to get all this through my head. "You're going too fast."_

_ "On the contrary, I'm being very informative." The bear frowns. "Don't you remember me?"_

_ Nanoha just stares at him. "I think I'd remember having a conversation with a patronising teddy in one of my dreams, wouldn't I?"_

_ The bear puffs itself up angrily. "Didn't you hear me? This _isn't_ a dream. And believe it or not, we've met before. We've had this conversation about seventy times by now and you never remember me each time. And that's because you won't remember me until after we finish this __conversation. And you know what? I don't remember you either. Except that I do, because the me from tomorrow told me that I have. And when they tell me, I remember. Because at the same time, I'm coming right from yesterday to now. How much simpler do you want me to put it?"_

_ Nanoha continues to stare in complete confusion. _

_ "Are you a time traveller?" she says finally._

* * *

The central view screen focused on the main hospital ward flickered as the surveillance cameras continued to monitor Nanoha's bed where she had been admitted into mental care. Hayate watched from the control room, feeling as if the distance between Nanoha and herself wasn't so great after all. Behind her, Shari was scrolling down a list of all the medical data coming in, waiting for Chrono and Yuuno to approve their end of the long-distance communication network. It was easier this way, talking to each other over each department instead of wasting hours trying to organise a meeting in the same room. No matter what happened, the TSAB would continue on tirelessly, time after time.

It was now into the early afternoon of the day after the attack. The news of Nanoha's sudden reappearance had travelled like wildfire, followed by widespread concern at her admittance into hospital. Shamal had had her hands full just trying to find somewhere to put all of the Get Well cards, and had been forced to refuse any visitors.

Almost any visitors, that is.

Hayate watched Nanoha's bed silently, giving no word to her inner thoughts. Fate had stayed faithfully by Nanoha's side all night long, despite being worn-out from the action of the previous day, her face desperate with worry. It didn't seem to matter what assurances Shamal and the rest of the medical team were giving her. She wanted to stay. In the end, it became apparent that she was going to keep herself up all night long and jeopardise her health in doing so, until Shamal insisted that she get at least some measure of sleep before they had another casualty in their hands.

"Fate," Hayate murmured out loud, quiet enough so that nobody could hear. "You shouldn't have to suffer like this."

Shamal's diagnosis of Nanoha's condition had been both a relief and a concern to everyone. But Fate hadn't seemed to believe her, arguing that Nanoha was on the verge of death, not satisfied for an instant until she could feel Nanoha breath next to her once more. And then it was if she wouldn't let go for a moment. But with time came healing, and the hours had grown long past the dawn.

Chrono had scheduled a group meeting with the high-ranking mages involved personally, which would usually include all of the Aces. But one of them was lying unconscious and another was too sick with worry to leave her. Hayate doubted that Fate would ever be the same again. After all, personal loss cut through all the way to her soul, bringing back bitter memories of her childhood.

So far, only Hayate, Shamal and Yuuno were a part of the meeting. Hayate guessed that Shamal was there to provide details of Nanoha's condition, and perhaps relay the information back to the rest of the Wolkenritter, who would in turn do the same to their own individual squads. Hayate didn't know why Chrono just let her, Hayate, do all of it. She was used to command, after all. Did he not trust her? His behaviour towards her was somewhat frustrating, but tolerable.

Yuuno's appearance, however, gave Hayate a shred of hope. There could only be one reason why Chrono would ask him to be present.

"Hayate?"

It was Chrono's voice on the second monitor as the videoscreen onboard the Asura hooked up to their internal network. They were online. There was no sign of any signal from Yuuno at the Infinity Library, but perhaps Yuuno had his hands full with research already.

"I'm here," Hayate acknowledged from her end. "Yuuno hasn't turned up yet."

Chrono's gaze was even and measured, but somewhat restricted. An indication of just how much responsibility he was taking on from his present level. For him to have called a meeting so soon after the Bureau was barely recovering from the first attack since the JS Incident...something must have come up.

"We can start without him," he said. "If Shamal is here, then..."

The blonde-haired mage's tranquil voice sounded from the wards. "I'm here too." She sighed, her eyes weary and tired as she appeared on screen. Early morning emergencies for life-or-death situations did not allow the head of the medical team ample sleep, especially when you worked on double shifts. "I'm guessing you want me to update you on how Nanoha-san is."

"Please," Chrono said. "I know you must be tired of people asking."

Shamal's gaze went to Nanoha's bed in front of her, where she had spent many hours after dawn making her primary diagnosis. "She's going to be all right. Her life signs are all strong enough to lead her back to recovery. Her respiratory levels and heart rate are all at the level of a normal healthy human being. From the readings, she appears to be sleeping peacefully and there is no reason why she shouldn't awaken later on."

Chrono's sceptical attitude showed that he needed more persuading than that. "Fate was making a considerable outcry when you brought her in."

"That's understandable, given their relationship - "

"She seemed to think that Nanoha was close to death. Fate isn't the kind who would sit by and do nothing if she thought something was wrong. And yet...you're really saying there's nothing wrong with her?"

"Of course," Shamal said rather irritably, annoyance weaving into her voice. "When Fate-san brought her in, she was reasonably healthy. I checked for any signs of rogue substances in her body, injuries, toxins, poisons and so forth..." She shook her head. "Nothing. It's as if she just fell asleep. In my professional medical opinion, I think everyone is just overreacting."

Hayate spoke up at this point, unable to conceal her worries any further. "You didn't mention the blue markings on her body, Shamal."

The blonde mage nodded. "I was coming to that. As you both know – and this is partly why I have not allowed visitors to Nanoha-san – Nanoha-san's body was covered from head to toe with strange blue markings. We made some attempt to remove them, but so far everything we've tried, short of causing harm to Nanoha-san's body, has failed." She closed her eyes for a moment, brushing a strand of hair out of her eye. "However, after extensive analysis of the markings, they don't seem to be harmful to Nanoha-san in any way. They don't affect her bodily functions or her brain activity or any other part of her."

"But they won't come off," Hayate said with a hint of agitation in her voice.

Shamal's tone softened as she turned to her. "I don't think you should worry about that, Hayate-san," she said with a smile. "There's a lot of substances in this world which won't come off your skin by normal means, but that doesn't mean they'll hurt you. Besides, we're still researching into this matter." She shrugged. "Maybe they'll just fade on their own."

Chrono nodded in satisfaction. "I see. We'll leave it in your hands then, Shamal. And...I know this might not be your area, but have you heard about the status of Raging Heart?"

When the other woman shook her head, Chrono went on, "Fate found Raging Heart at the same time as she found Nanoha. As you know, each and every mage has a deep connection with their own device, so I had Raging Heart checked up on. And..." He took a deep breath, his words more aimed at Hayate than Shamal. "I don't want to worry anyone, but Raging Heart was found to be completely drained of all power."

The feeling of being eaten away inside her increased inside Hayate. _Raging Heart...was drained of all power? The amount of magic that Nanoha can channel inside Raging Heart is extreme, at a far higher level than even I am capable of sometimes..._

"I already have Mariel working on it," Chrono was saying, keeping his voice deliberately calm. "She should be able to get Raging Heart back to normal in no time, if my respect for her ability is any judge. It's nothing for anyone to worry about. We have enough on our minds at the moment."

Hayate didn't seem to hear him. _What happened to Nanoha when she vanished? What could drain Raging Heart of all the magical power contained within?_

"In any case, you have my thanks, Shamal. Your help is invaluable." The look in Chrono's eyes seemed distant and distracted. "I know you have work of your own to do, especially now that Nanoha's..."

The medical mage bowed her head respectfully. "With your leave, Chrono-kun. I hope that you are able to get to the bottom of this."

The connection terminated at Shamal's end and her videoscreen at the wards was deactivated. Hayate felt a dull emptiness as the mage disappeared from the conversation, accompanied by the same emotion that had been eating away at her since this morning. Shamal's words meant well, but for some reason they didn't make her feel any better.

So Nanoha was alive and well? Fate didn't seem convinced in the slightest. Hayate had never seen her friend in this state of emotion before, acting as if Nanoha was on the verge of death. The strange markings on her body were not good news for any of them either, especially if they weren't going to be coming off. And Raging Heart...

_Our opponents took Nanoha away, and returned her...like she is now. They wouldn't do that for no reason. I need to talk to Srethis about this, if they will talk to me. Anything could help at this stage, and it feels like Nanoha's life is at the core of it all._

Abruptly, the screen from the Infinity Library came to life several seconds after Shamal's screen switched off. The friendly face of a young green-eyed man with medium-length brown-blonde hair extending down to neck-level appeared in greeting, gazing studiously through his glasses at them.

"Yuuno-kun!" Chrono exclaimed, the light coming back to his eyes again at the researcher's presence. "I'm glad you could make it after all."

"I'm sorry I'm late," Yuuno apologised profusely. "With all the projects that have been coming in lately, I haven't had a lot of free time lately..."

Hayate smiled despite herself. She hadn't had the chance to talk with Yuuno face-to-face for many months by now. Everything had seemed so busy before, especially with Yuuno confining himself to the depths of the Infinity Library and constantly away at research conferences, but now it seemed as if they would be talking again once more. She had another reason to be in high spirits now: Yuuno's presence here might mean that Chrono was going to take her request to look into time travel seriously after all.

"It's good to see you again, Yuuno-kun," she said seriously.

Yuuno's eyes twinkled. "It's strange, isn't it? We never seem to talk when the world is at peace. And here we are now, with the threat of enemies attacking the Bureau..."

"Danger attracts us all, Yuuno-kun," Hayate smiled. "It brings us all together."

Chrono tapped the edge of his communicator a few times, bringing them all back into focus. "I don't mean to break up your reunion here," he said, seeming somewhat less tense nonetheless, "but we have things we need to discuss. Hayate, I was concerned about the marks on Nanoha's body when she was brought in. Fate was not in the best condition at the time, but from what she said I was able to gather that the blue markings were _runes_ of a kind."

"Runes?" Hayate repeated, not understanding. "You mean...?"

"Precisely," Yuuno said excitedly, the academic within him pushing to the surface. "According to Chrono-kun's observations, the runes repeat over Nanoha's skin, again and again. Like a kind of mantra. Like words. Like...some kind of language." He pushed his glasses up to the rim of his nose. "Chrono-kun had them copied down and sent to me to research in the Infinity Library."

"They're...a _language?_" Hayate didn't know what to think of all this. "You mean somebody wrote these alien words on Nanoha's body over and over again?"

_Yuuno sounds thrilled about it because he loves discovering new things. He's thinking about this new language that he's going to discover, and about where it came from, what culture, what civilisation...but all I can think about is that someone subjected Nanoha to some kind of twisted __ritual. No wonder Fate broke down when she saw her._

"Yes," Yuuno said, wide-eyed with the idea. "The prospect of it is fantastic. These runs could be the proof of an ancient forgotten language that we know nothing about! A whole species and world, knowledge just waiting to be unlocked! But it will take time," he said seriously to Chrono. "A lot of time and effort. It all depends on the hidden secrets locked within. A week, a month, or forty thousand years! In any case, the end result will be worth it!"

"We can't wait quite that long," Chrono said disapprovingly. "I'm half-expecting the Bureau to be attacked tomorrow if we're not careful." He sighed. "Yuuno-kun...if you're able to translate the runes, please tell us. If not, then we'll just have to live with it."

The archaeologist's eyes were still shining. "But these runes could be the key to knowledge which far surpasses - "

"Yuuno-kun," Hayate said heavily. "Please."

"I also have one more thing to discuss here," Chrono said, moving closer to the screen, his features in sharper focus. "The Lost Logia."

Hayate felt a sense of foreboding at these words, but suppressed it. "What about them?"

"Everything, Hayate. The attack on the Bureau. The decoy. Srethis' infiltration to remove our defences so that we would be vulnerable. The Lost Logia...Hayate, I haven't told this to many people. But when Shari gave me her run-down of the extent of the damage caused, it became evident that one of the Lost Logia is missing."

If she had said she hadn't been expecting this, Hayate would have been lying. It had been a suspicion lodged in the back of her mind ever since she had found out that the vaults had been attacked directly. _Of course. Srethis brings down all defences from the safety of my office. Including all the security keeping the Lost Logia sealed away. When Subaru and Tiana gave me their report, they said that all of the Lost Logia were open and vulnerable at the vaults. Anyone could have taken them. Anyone. _

But she also recalled that of all the monsters who had attacked the vaults...all of the mutants, the Manticore and so forth...they hadn't gotten past their last line of defence. Subaru and Tiana had fought them off and prevented any of the attackers from getting in. So the attackers then hadn't been the ones who had stolen the Lost Logia.

_Of course they were just a decoy. But you would have to get all the way in to take one of the Lost Logia. Like Exoria did when she opened a portal in time. They attacked us on both ends._

"Chrono-kun has given me the task of analysing exactly which Lost Logia was stolen and what its purpose is," Yuuno explained. "Luckily, I have a lot more information to go on here, because the data on every Lost Logia is archived here at the Infinity Library. Now, you have to understand that I have begun my analysis at very short notice, and so I can't give you a completely detailed run-down of the missing Lost Logia for a day or so. But..."

_No, wait. It couldn't have been Exoria who stole the Lost Logia. I was chasing her, remember? She panicked and she fled. Which means that either there's someone else with the kind of powers that she has, or someone else infiltrated the vaults when we were caught-off balance and..._

"Yes?" Chrono asked in answer to what Yuuno was saying.

"I have been able to access the most local archives of the Lost Logia," the researcher mage said. "The information they contain is rather out-of-date and imprecise, but not altogether incorrect. So I can give you a rough idea about what exactly are the abilities of the missing Lost Logia."

_It all comes down to one thing. The impossible, non-sensical, fantastical existence of time travel._

"Roughly, based on a few assumptions," Yuuno finished, "the Lost Logia was stolen is rumoured to grant its user the ability to speed up or slow down time itself. In essence, you could manipulate or disrupt the flow of time on a basic level. Now, I know this is only an imprecise description, but once I am able to find more about its particular abilities..."

Hayate jumped to her feet, slamming her hands on the console in front of her. She felt Chrono's gaze on her, troubled, regretful, but she didn't care. The evidence in front of them all could not be argued with or ignored any longer. If what they did brought the whole world down upon themselves, then so be it. Maybe it was impossible. But what had happened to Nanoha, what had happened to her, and what the purpose of the missing Lost Logia was...

"Hayate?" Yuuno whispered in alarm.

"Yuuno-kun," she said, her tone brooking no argument. "I want you to do something for me. I want you to go through the Infinity Library and find everything you've got on time travel. Everything, including the details of the missing Logia. Everything's that going to happen to us now will depend on it."

* * *

Fate watched with haunted eyes as her lover slept on, hour after hour. The sight of Nanoha's face painted with those strange symbols as she slumbered on peacefully brought a bittersweet taste in her mouth. Shamal had told her that Nanoha was sleeping normally, that there was nothing wrong with her, that the runes on her face were doing her no harm...

Fate's hands tightened around the edge of the bed. Shamal hadn't held a dead Nanoha in her arms.

She'd stayed on for hours on end by Nanoha's side until worry for her own health had won out. But her mind wouldn't rest, wouldn't stop crying that Nanoha wasn't really there, that as soon everyone left her alone again that Nanoha's skin would go cold once more and her breathing would gradually stop as the forces around them conspired to destroy the two of them once more. The fear inside her told Fate that that was exactly would happen. She ended up taking sleeping pills to quell her frightened mind to slumber.

When she woke up, Nanoha was still sleeping. She hadn't woken up or even moved once. Fate took Vivio to her, the sound of her daughter's voice reassuring her. Vivio told her that Nanoha had kept her promise to her, and that she was happy to be with her. She asked when Nanoha-mama would get better. Fate didn't know what to tell her. She was relieved when Shamal answered for her instead, and said that Nanoha would wake up anytime soon now.

Fate watched Nanoha continue to sleep, the rise of her breast moving up and down, her hand on her arm. Warm. Not cold. She wasn't gone, at least not yet.

It was late evening and she was _still asleep. _If she really was asleep. No, the doctors and nurses were wrong. She must be in a coma. Maybe she wouldn't wake up, ever, not for Fate, not for anyone, ever again. Maybe she was trying to talk to Fate but she couldn't. Everyone said she was fine, she was going to be fine. So many Get Well cards, strewn everywhere. Too many. Fate hadn't written one. She didn't need to. Nanoha wasn't going to be fine, she felt that. And neither was she; nobody was going to be fine.

Vivio was fast asleep by now. Fate had requested more people around her daughter, people whom she respected and loved and that Vivio respected and loved. She never wanted Vivio to ever be alone again. She didn't want Vivio to go through what she had had to go through.

Sleep. Nanoha looked so peaceful and – could she say happy? - that it almost made her want to go to a similar place. But she didn't want to leave.

"I love you," she said quietly, her words feeling like scattered leaves falling into winter. They were heard and they were crushed but it didn't matter as long as your loved one was the one who heard them. "I don't know if you're having a dream or a nightmare. But I know you can wake up from it. Please, Nanoha? Wake up for me. I know I'm selfish for asking so. And Vivio's okay. She knows you'll awake when you're ready. You kept your promise to her and she knows it."

No response. The nurses hadn't hooked her up to any of the machines or breathing apparatuses. They kept telling Fate that there was nothing wrong with her. _But I'm looking at her, and you're wrong._

"I need you, Nanoha," she whispered, and laid her head against the brunette's breast, feeling the touch of her skin against her own, the tears dripping down across her cheek.

"She'll wake up, Fate."

The reassuring voice came from behind her, and was painfully familiar. Fate shook her head, unable to tell whether she was imagining things. She wiped the tears away, turning to see...a young girl with long red hair flowing down the length of her back, blue eyes blinking into her own, with red fox-like ears...

"Arf?" she said in bewilderment. "Is that you? How...how can you be...?"

Arf nestled closed to her, cuddling her and pushing her slender body against hers. "Because you need me," she said simply.

The comfort felt surreal but nostalgic. It brought back memories of the familiar who had comforted her time and time again when Precia would hurt her. The first real memory of love she ever had, after the fake ones that been implanted within her mind.

"But you aren't here," Fate protested, "you're with Chrono and Amy in the Asura. You're..." A sad smile came to her lips. "You aren't real, are you?"

The familiar stroked her hair with a pained expression. "I'm real. If you dreamed me up to help you go on, then I'm as real as anything you know."

_What if Nanoha never wakes up?_

Cheeks wet with tears, Fate pressed her face against the side of Arf's neck. She felt soft, gentle and beautiful as she always had been. She'd always thought she'd abandoned Arf after they'd saved Hayate from her fate. But Arf had insisted that she'd be here for Fate when she needed her more than ever. When Nanoha wasn't here to save her. When she...

"It doesn't matter what happens," Arf whispered in her ear. "I'll always be here for you, helping you move on."

_I know. I know you will, Arf. I'm...I'm sorry..._

"I'm sorry too, Fate," said the familiar. Her eyes shone. Blue like Nanoha's eyes. "You were right. I'm just a dream. And dreams end."

"Arf...?"

Arf raised her arms up behind her head. Her ears were turning black. No, her fur was turning black too, as if it was being burned up, burned away with the rest of reality. She raised a hand up and black mist fell away from the fingers.

Her skin began to crumbled away as darkness eroded her face and features completely. The black mist shot forward and clawed at Fate. Fate screamed and lurched backwards as far as she could. The pain shot through her head, piercing, resounding through her mind.

_"Oguba,"_ the mist said in a voice of harsh steel. _"Oguba!"_

She was screaming as she came back to reality. She was waking up. Her own screams woke her up as Fate clutched at her head, the whole world spinning around her. Arf wasn't there. Arf wasn't real. No, what was real, what was real was that she was kneeling beside Nanoha's bed, and that Nanoha was...Nanoha was...

Fate's eyes opened as she awoke from the nightmare.

But the black mist before her was no dream. It was pouring out of Nanoha's body, our of the blue runes that lay across her skin. It gushed into the night air, filling the ward like smog. Terrified, Fate grasped Nanoha's wrist tightly. Her skin was cold, so cold. Her breathing had stopped. They were wrong. They were all wrong.

"_Oguba!_" the black mist screamed at her, rushing towards her.

It poured out of Nanoha's body completely as Fate fell to the floor, screaming for help. The blue runes on her skin disappeared as it left Nanoha behind, and the mist streaked over Fate's head harmlessly, dissipating into the air like steam, fading into the walls and disappearing completely. It chanted the same unfamiliar word again and again into the night as the world spun around Fate's mind, rocking on the back of her feet.

It was gone. Fate clung to the edge of the bedrail. The black mist had disappeared and taken the blue runes with it. She...was Nanoha...

_Her hand feels warm. I can smell...no, I can hear her breathing. Her heat, her warmth, her skin..._

Nanoha's eyes slowly opened and stared into hers.

"Fate?" she said weakly. "Where...where am I? What happened?"

She didn't understand the tears that stained Fate's face or the overwhelming happiness that came over her in a huge rush. The blonde mage touched her cheek shakingly as if trying to decide whether she was a dream or not. Confused, Nanoha touched her hand back, looking up at her in wonder.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The breath went out of her as Fate enclosed her in a dangerously tight hug on top of her bed , pressing the entirety of her body against hers. She was crying in her ear, whispering her name again and again as she clutched at her face and her skin, closing her mouth against hers. Nanoha's arms came up against her, returning the hug and the kiss. Binding her back to stability once more.

"Nanoha..." Fate whispered with emotion. "Are you...are you going to stay with me?"

"Of course," Nanoha replied quietly. Her voice was shaking, but she didn't know why. "I would never leave you, Fate. Never."

_I missed you, Fate. But I don't feel like you ever left._

Wordlessly, she wrapped her lover tighter still in their fierce embrace. She didn't know what had happened, or why, or the reasons Fate seemed so broken. It didn't matter why. All that mattered was that they were together once more.


	10. Gathering

The open air felt good on her skin again. Days of being confined to a single stuffy bed had not been one of her most joyous experiences in life at the TSA, and the hospital gown felt uncomfortable and unwanted on her person, sticking to her body in several places where the sweat from the fever still remained. If Shamal had her way, she would be stuck in that bed for the rest of the day, but that would be unbearable.

Vita turned her face to the sky, wandering out through the hospital doors for the first time all week. The fever and vomiting had not troubled her since yesterday, and she had been desperate to get out of the ward from the first day she had been admitted. Even now she was having to sneak out by herself. If Shamal got wind that she was gone, then she'd be slammed back in that ward before you could say Wolkenritter.

But this...was not what she had expected to see. Bureau mages on high alert, sniffing around for the first sign of trouble. Chunks of the walls of the vaults in pieces at the far end of the Bureau. Bodies taken past her to the intensive care unit, crying out about an attack. Talk of monsters and mutants appearing.

"What in the world happened whilst I was in hospital?" Vita muttered out loud, almost wishing someone would come out and tell her. It wasn't fair. The first real piece of action that happened to the TSA for a long time, and she had to miss out. She blamed Shamal's bad cooking, for lack of any other reason.

Nobody had been to visit her for a while either, which miffed her just a little bit. Even the forwards, although Caro had sent her a card made out of ice-cream which had, once again, melted. Were they all so busy that they couldn't even see her for five minutes? Even Signum...

There were shouts and scream in the distance. Vita shook her head to clear them away, too disgruntled to care. It was hard enough getting a good night's sleep when you weren't used to the unnervingly soft beds of the hospital which were _supposed_ to make you relax, but with Vita they always confused her into being -

"Stop that creature!"

Vita looked up in mild surprise. The shouts and screams were real. They were coming from the guards and soldiers rushing up from the main compound.

"Finally, some action," she said with a somewhat feral grin, and prepared to go into full combat mode. No matter how minor the situation might be, she needed to get the adrenaline rushing through her once more. "Let's go, Graf Eisen!"

Nothing happened. The great hammer failed to respond as she failed to undergo any kind of transformation whatsoever.

"I _said_, let's go_,_ Graf Eisen!" Vita repeated impatiently.

Still nothing. The yelling of the guards was growing louder. Whoever they were chasing was drawing nearer to the hospital. Vita scowled and inspected her device critically. There shouldn't be anything wrong with it, but Graf Eisen wasn't even speaking to her...

"Graf Eisen?" she said worriedly in a low voice. "What's wrong?"

Her device quivered in her hands and spouted a few lines of indecipherable gibberish at her. It sounded like a mixture of German and winding static, as if Graf Eisen couldn't speak properly. Vita's face fell; she didn't know what was wrong with it, but it definitely wasn't good. She needed Mariel to look at Graf Eisen as soon as possible if she was going to make any headway here at all.

_First I catch food poisoning for no reason, and now I can't transform? Is the world just out to get me today?_

She steeled herself for action nonetheless; her fists and reflexes were still pretty good in any case. But then Vita heard the shouting pass her by completely, fading away into the distance. The guards must have found whatever they were looking for. She was still somewhat curious about what all the fuss was about, but then shrugged it off. Hayate and the others probably had it all under control.

But it was then that she heard the hoarse, raggedy breathing in front of her. It was accompanied by some kind of hissing noise, and at first Vita didn't know what it was. Then it was followed by a violent hacking cough, making her stop in her tracks for just a moment. It sounded like whoever was making the noise was just round the corner.

_Whoever that is, they sound really sick, _Vita thought to herself. She hesitated, wary of investigating any further; if she caught whatever infectious disease they had, that would mean another long week imprisoned in hospital.

"Hey," she called out, "you okay?"

There was a strangled gurgle and then Hayate stepped out of the shadows, collapsing as blood dripped between her fingers at her waist. Her other hand was clutched around her throat, clawing frantically, gasping for breath as blood soaked the base of her neck.

Vita cried out in alarm and caught the mage in her arms before she hit the ground.

But the instant their skin made contact, the body she held transformed dramatically. The skin turned scaly and reptilian, metamorphosing along its entire length so that hands and feet shot out into sharp talons. Her eyes turned dark-green and a pair of graceful wings were revealed to be closed in at her back.

_What the...?_

"Srethis needss...medicine..." the lizard croaked, its breath a feeble effort through faded lips. A deadened look entered its eyes as its body folded up, becoming limp and helpless, its muscles ceasing movement completely.

_What the hell _is_ this creature? _Vita wondered, cradling its weak body and in two minds about what to do. _It must be the one that the guards were chasing. Why did it look like Hayate? What's going on around here?_

If this lizard was an enemy of the Bureau, then she shouldn't be associating with it. Maybe she should be attacking it. But Vita's instinct told her that that wouldn't be right. The poor thing was dead on its feet. Someone – or something – had hurt it badly. Whatever it was, it needed help, and fast.

"I knew I chose the wrong time to get food poisoning," she said grudgingly, carrying Srethis back towards the hospital. Shamal needed to see this. Of course, Shamal was going to lynch her for leaving the hospital anyway, so she might as well do this with dignity.

* * *

Deep within the inner laboratories of the TSA Engineering Division, hundreds of mage devices lay locked away, housed inside rows and rows of transparent cabinets which stretched from the ceiling all the way down to the floor. A power link maintained the electrical connection to each and every one of them, as engineers monitored every device and the supplication of their individual abilities. Some were cased in bubbling-test tubes, and some were handled carefully with the most delicate precision, looking as if they would shatter under the barest impact.

Every device used by the mages of the Bureau began its life in these laboratories. For it was here that they were manufactured, studied, researched and given form. Maintenance and development of such powerful weapons was part of the TSA's key budget, and the importance of such a division, especially now, was crucial to the everyday life of any mage.

Mariel examined the casing of the device which was occupying all of her attention right now. As head of the Engineering Division, she had had ample experience with hundreds of devices and was a professional with her work. It was no wonder that the task of maintaining Nanoha's device had been given to her.

But even so, she was finding herself at a loss.

"Raging Heart," she said, staring through into the cabinet as the red orb glinted dully, as unresponsive as it had been for the past twenty four hours when the engineering team had brought it into her care. "What is this nonsense?"

Raging Heart had been completely depleted of all magical power when Mariel had examined it. Undamaged in any way, with all working system still up to speed, it had not been too difficult to help the orb on the way to recovery. But then the error messages started to come up. Raging Heart's internal program was requiring extra components. Installations of new parts – parts which seemed to be completely alien.

She scrolled down on the data screen of the backlog for Raging Heart and highlighted the warning segments.

_ Error 825: Oguba S7982J required for main body functionality. _

_ Error 826: Oguba S7982Z required for main body functionality._

_ Error 827: Oguba S7982T required for main body functionality._

_ Error 828: Oguba T4937K required for chronological accentuation path functionality._

_ Error 829: Oguba K3821P required for chronological bypass timeframe functionality._

_ Error 830: …_

They went on down the screen, all the way to Error 1305. Mariel recalled that this was not the first time that Raging Heart had received a so-called upgrade – no, the first time had been during the Book of Darkness incident, when the ability of Velka-type weapons had been installed into Raging Heart and Bardiche to combat the Wolkenritter, who they had been fighting against at the time.

But Raging Heart was not asking for Velka-type abilities, or any ability that Mariel was familiar with. The components listed on the screen on front of her were...unheard of. Mariel had never heard of anything called "Oguba" before.

_Chronological bypass timeframe functionality? _Mariel was, for once in her work, utterly bewildered. _What in the world could that mean?_

Whatever Raging Heart's requirements were, they weren't something that the TSA were able to get hold of. After all, the TSA presided over a great many worlds in many systems by now. Mariel had gained a formidable amount of knowledge into the components required for certain devices. And yet what she saw on the screen now was just...could it be absolutely nonsense? It didn't seem like it, somehow.

She'd made a detailed check of every component in their database. Still nothing, nothing remotely close to the requirements. Mariel was at a loss. The news around was that Nanoha had woken up. She couldn't just turn around and tell her that her device had gone bonkers.

_I need to talk to Chrono about this, _Mariel thought, striding away from the monitor and out of the laboratories completely. _Or Yuuno-kun at the very least. Maybe this is something new that they've discovered. _She didn't place much faith in that hope, however.

* * *

The crystal reflected the lights in her eyes once more, dancing as they did across the edges of a surreal landscape that none of them could see. It didn't seem very pretty to Exoria, especially when they really all looked the same as red to her. She was tired of playing. Tired of games which nobody else was playing.

On this occasion, however, she was not alone. The superior was there in the sky, pushing her down constantly, then pulling her back up, always with that same cold attitude. It was beginning to get to her. Of course, she wasn't _really_ in that sky, but talking of games...

The Legion stepped forward onto empty space which bore its weight quite comfortably and fixed Exoria with the unnerving gaze of half-human and half-machine. Exoria wasn't sure how much human was left.

Off to one side, the last member of their organisation stepped out of the portal with considerable difficulty, especially considering that they had the wrong number of beds. Their face transformed into a smile when they saw Exoria, and then a grimace, and then turned into a giggle which caused them to double up into hysterics.

"Where did you go?" the Legion said.

Exoria growled in-between her teeth and refused to answer. The laughter of the alien on the other side of the crystal was irritating her. She wasn't feeling exactly like a pacifist right now.

"My Legion," came the female voice from above them, as the lights continued to dance and flicker, like the score of a musical symphony. "And Ungore. Thank you for bringing them back again."

Exoria scowled. She wasn't overly fond of the hooded alien which insisted on speaking through the wrong organs and laughing far too hard at things that weren't funny. It struck a nerve in her, especially the way they spoke to her. And now they had been dispatched to fit _her_ mistake. If only she'd managed to take care of Hayate, maybe this wouldn't have-

Ungore's head swooped back up all of a sudden as it got to its feet. For a moment Exoria thought it was going to start mocking her again. She already felt like killing something now that her powers had returned.

"Where's Srethis?" Ungore said instead, drawing itself up. As always, it was clothed in red, green, purple, blue and just about every other colour in existence. Exoria always thought it looked like a clown. "Are they on a mission?"

The female voice from above said, "You need not concern yourself with that reptile anymore."

"Really? Really? Really." The hooded alien blinked twice, spun its head round and flung one arm to the side, then picked up its other arm with the first arm, flopping over to one side. "Oh! But I do concern myself, oh Superior-san, program, yes. Yes I do. Hey! Legion. Where's Srethis?"

The Legion cast an uncaring glance towards the tall creature. "In the custody of the Bureau, if they are not dead yet."

"Oh! But that's bad." Ungore shut its eyes, then flicked them open again to stare at its arms, a vein twitching in what little could be seen of its shadowed face. "Bad! Sincerely. But Superior-san is going to go rescue wonderful Srethis, right?"

"No, Ungore," the voice from the lights said patiently. "We talked about this. Srethis was not guaranteed a safe return. Their cost to this organisation was highly - "

"Oh, but don't say "was", Superior-san, was, "was" is in the past! Let's say _is!_" The alien was chattering excitedly, as it always did when something happened that set its emotions alight. "Because you see, don't you, _don't_ you, that dear Srethis cannot live without its medicine. And since only _we_ supply such - "

"A calculated risk," the superior's voice snapped down, cutting Ungore off in mid-sentence. "Srethis cannot help us any further. It was quite appropriate for them to leave us this way. After all, they refused to accept Oguba's powers - "

"They weren't the _only_ one!" Ungore cried, holding one limp arm by the other, and waving it at the shining lights. "The Legion - "

The splinters of light went dark. "No," the woman's voice said sharply. "We will say no more of this. Srethis was weak enough to be captured by mere humans. The decision has already passed you, Ungore. We need _your_ skills, not those of a reptilian acrobat." Slowly, the lights returned to semi-brightness again, wavering over Ungore's futile gesture towards them. "Now. If we are able to get started here, there is the matter of our client to discuss - "

"Did you mean me, Superior-san?" came a child's voice out of the darkness, accompanied by the barest sound of footsteps.

The rest of them were suddenly hushed into silence as a little girl came into view, her small shining smile drawing them in. Her hair was drawn back along her neck, long and beautiful, with a small necklace around her neck. She wore an ordinary brown jacket, seeming out of place in this world of impossibilities and time travel. Like Exoria, she always seemed to be unarmed.

It was her eyes that told you that there might be something wrong about her. For her eyes were empty of pupils and were jet-black, black as the holes within that threatened to suck you in forever.

"Hello, Client-san," the female voice said somewhat respectfully. "I am pleased to report that the arrangements have been made successfully."

_Our client, _Exoria thought. _She doesn't often come to visit, but when she does, she always wants something. _

The little girl beamed, the smile not quite reaching her eyes. "That's wonderful! Wonderful, Superior-san! Oguba is pleased. All of you have done me a great service. I really am glad for such friendships such as yours, Legion-san, Ungore-san, Exo-chan!"

"Don't call me Exo-chan," Exoria hissed under her breath, not caring if she was heard or not.

The client's dead eyes shot over to her for a moment, and her heart skipped a beat. Then the realisation that she was being intimidated by a little girl came over her, and Exoria felt rage well up inside her, glaring back at the client in equal measure.

"I see," said the little girl after a few moments, still staring at her. "Oh, Exo-chan, I still consider you my friend. Why don't you return the gesture? Don't you trust me?"

"I might trust you more," Exoria said daringly, "if your allies were more reliable."

_Srethis, Ungore and Grylmark. They never used to be here before she came. Of course, neither did _I...

"I can vouch for all those who enter into a contract with the great Oguba," the girl said quite seriously, the smile still on her young face. "Oh Exo-chan, are you angry with me?"

"Grylmark never turns up!" Exoria shouted angrily, though in actual fact that was the least of her worries. Creepy dead girls and annoying aliens were certainly higher up on her list. "If you want our services, then why do you send us someone who never makes an appearance? How are we supposed to run an assassination organisation properly if we don't know what he's doing half the time?"

The Legion had turned its face away from her, but Exoria was sure that it was in agreement with her own thoughts. _But their machine side wins them over. They just don't have the guts to stand up to her. Hell knows why, when I'm the one who was the best suited with Oguba's powers._

"Now, now," the little girl said soothingly as if the outburst had been nothing. "You should calm down, Exo-chan. I understand your frustrations - "

"She's in love," Ungore said behind its hood, with suppressed laughter.

Exoria's face went a violent shade of red. She wanted to kill that creature on the spot.

"No fighting! Please!" the girl pleaded, spreading her arms openly. "Hear me out, please. I can tell you all from the depths of my heart – no, from Oguba himself – that Grylmark is as trustworthy as any of you. I ask you not to doubt another great friend of mine."

"We are getting nowhere here," the superior said, its voice rolling down from the sky impatiently. "Client-san, if we could wrap up our business quickly..."

The client stared up at the lights for a moment and then nodded. "Of course, Superior-san, of course. My friends, I offered Oguba's power to you as payment for your services. And you have all done everything I asked. The death of Takamachi Nanoha is necessary for the existence of Oguba to continue. Of course, her revival is equally necessary, but there is no reason why she would not wake up in view of the events set in motion. The brain of Jail Scaglietti, along with the Lost Logia, will serve as an excellent offering to the great Oguba. For all this, my friends, I thank you." She bowed gracefully. "Our agreement, then, is done. From here on, we shall part ways."

She turned around and started to disappear into the darkness.

"Wait just one second!" Exoria said, not expecting this. "You're just going to _leave?_"

The little girl paused and turned around, surprised. "Of course. We have finished our business, Exo-chan, haven't we?"

"But..." She couldn't believe that the client would just come all the way here just to tell them that everything was wrapped up. There had to be something more. "But does this mean we'll lose Oguba's powers when you go?"

"Of course not, Exo-chan!" the girl exclaimed, her lips folding into a radiant smile. "The great Oguba does not bind you or hold you down with unnecessary constraints. The powers of time-travel are a _gift_ to all of you. Our business is finished here. Oguba bids you good luck in the future to use your powers as however you see fit." She turned to leave again. "It is my wish that whether you use them for good or for evil, if you believe in those kinds of things, that you still enjoy the most out of our partnership."

She began to disappear once more, the darkness closing in at her back.

Long seconds of silence passed at her departure. Exoria glanced towards the rest of their group – towards Ungore and the Legion. They both seemed just as uneasy as she did. Nobody in their kind of business ever gave away anything for free. There was something wrong here.

Then the footsteps came back all of a sudden, and she was back once more.

"I'm so sorry," said the client, stepping back into view once more. "I just remembered one little thing that needed doing. It's nothing that special, but you know how time travel is? _Don't_ you?"

"What is it, Client-san?" the superior's female voice asked. They had been surprisingly silent throughout the proceedings beforehand.

The little girl smiled bashfully. "I just need a little favour from you wonderful people. Just do one more thing for me, set my conscience at ease, and Oguba's work will be complete once-and-for all. Let's say it can be the topping on the cake. And seal our friendship just how it should be!" She looked around hopefully. "How about it?"

******I don't think I did the best job on this chapter, like didn't focus enough on Nanoha and everyone else, but the next chapter will answer a lot of questions. I might be updating a bit quicker but I'll see how it goes.**


	11. Oguba

_"And all's well that ends well," says the camel fleetingly as if nothing had happened. "That's that. Tying up all the loose ends because it seems like you're alive again. But you're not, are you? You're not until you find my essence and make yourself part of me. Because in the end, nothing matters until you find the person that makes you whole again."_

_ Nanoha finds herself lying on the grassy patch in the middle of the clearing again. Just like in the dream. Or was it a dream? Why is she still here?_

_ "Weren't you a bear last time?" she says in bafflement. "Why are you a _camel_ now?"_

_ The camel turns its nose up loftily at her remarks. It seems comically out of place in such a cool environment._

_ "Appearance changes, but I remain the same inside," it chatters on. "Who can say how your imagination chooses to perceive me? And as to your last question: am I a time traveller? Let me answer that for you. If you are the only human being in the world left alive, and you walk across the desert alone in the world, does that make you a traveller, when there is nothing to see and no possible future? When there is nowhere to travel to?" It turns its head towards her in a rather unnerving fashion, just the way ordinary camels don't behave. "Do you understand what I mean?"_

_ Nanoha yawns. "You're a very bizarre figment of my imagination and I think I preferred you as a bear."_

_ The camel doesn't seem to be listening at all. "I seem a dream to you because you've forgotten me. And now you've woken up, but you're not going to be complete until you contact me in the real world that you know and breathe."_

_ "What do you mean, "complete"?" Nanoha says curiously. "There's nothing incomplete about me or my life."_

_ "Not about your life, Takamachi Nanoha. About your _existence_." The camel paws at the ground impatiently. "A living being cannot be dead in their past and alive in their future at the same time. You're in a paradox and there's going to be problems until you remember our contract with each other."_

_ Nanoha's eyes widen in alarm. Contract? What was this about a contract? She never..._

_ "I don't like where this is going," she says doubtfully. "Are you sure you don't want to go back to being a cuddly bear?"_

* * *

Cards filled the hospital room, an alarming number of them. Hundreds of them filled every inch of space available, overflowing over the pitifully small bedside table and onto the floor. As there was scant room to even walk with so many cards around, and with the ward nurses unwilling to throw a single one away at Nanoha's request, the last fifty or so were hung from the ceiling like spinning mobiles. Anyone else would at least have discarded the cards by now, but Nanoha insisted that they all be kept. After all, she reasoned, each and every one of them was filled with love.

Fate was still staying by her side faithfully whenever she had a spare moment, bringing Vivio along to see Nanoha at each opportunity. Since her awakening, Fate had undergone a remarkable recovery of her own. She smiled whenever she spoke, and the stress and nightmare from the past two days had all but been swept away. It wasn't just Nanoha's recovery that had brought her back from the brink. It was the fact that with Vivio, the three of them could continue as a family once more, just like they had always intended.

The overall morale of the TSA had improved drastically as well, with yet more and more Get Well cards coming in until Shamal had to move them into another room. Few had thought that Nanoha's condition was really that serious, since the diagnosis had been quite positive from the beginning, but it felt like the entire base was invigorated now that they had their Ace of Aces back. In many ways it was almost a time for celebration.

"Nanoha, are you sure you don't want to get rid of any of the cards?" Fate pleaded, surrounded by a new mountain of well-wishes. Her daughter was sitting proudly on her lap, poking at each card around her and reading through them tirelessly. "Vivio and I were literally ambushed by them on the way in when they fell off the top of the door."

Nanoha shook her head stubbornly. "How can I show my love for everyone if I just discard their hard work and effort for me?"

Her blonde-haired lover sighed. "They won't expect you to keep every last one. You can show your love for them by doing that brilliant smile you do for me."

Another brightly-coloured card toppled off the seventh pile and bounced onto the bed. Besides it was a steaming pool of liquid which was all that remained of Caro's own brand of melted ice-cream style of cards.

"But I want to keep them," the brunette mage protested. "How would you feel if you spent hours working on a beautiful card for someone and they just threw it away?"

"Nanoha, firstly they did not spend hours – most of them are just bought from _Suzuka & Arisa's Celebration Accessories_ – and there are now six hundred and forty seven of them! This is ridiculous!"

Nanoha blinked up at her and sat up as Vivio crawled onto the side of her bed next to her. She sighed and brought their child into her arms, hugging her into her shoulder. "It's barely a day after I've woken up and we're already arguing," she sighed. "I guess you really did miss me, Fate."

Fate didn't say anything in answer to that, her eyes downcast. She didn't want to be reminded of what had happened back then. The impact of the pain was only just beginning to fade away even now.

"Vivio," Nanoha said quietly to their smiling daughter snuggling up against her, "can I ask you something?"

The young girl looked up at her, one green eye, one red. "Yes, Nanoha-mama?"

"When you came home from school...did you...was I..." Nanoha closed her eyes for a moment, the words difficult to say. _Was I there for you like I promised? Or were you alone throughout the night until you found me again? _

"School finished early, Mama," Vivio said happily. "They had to close because the bad guys came. And I wanted to go home and see you because you said you would be home early, but then they said you and Fate-mama were fighting the bad guys. So I couldn't go home for a while."

"But...but Vivio, when you _did_ go home - "

Vivio shook her head. "I got sleepy, Mama. Zafira-san and Shamal-san said I fell asleep so they took me home and tucked me in. And when I woke up I was with you." She smiled and squeezed her arms tighter around Nanoha. "Mama, you were there just like you promised. Don't worry."

Nanoha breathed a sigh of relief. _Yes. I did. I didn't want to hurt Vivio's feelings for another day by not being there for her. So I did fulfil my promise to her. That's the important thing._

She caught sight of Fate's anxious expression and turned to her in concern. "What's wrong, Fate?"

"N-nothing," Fate said quickly, smoothing out her features and forcing herself to relax. "It's nothing. It's just..." She held out her arms for Vivio, and her daughter moved back into her lap again, though still keeping a fierce hand on her other mother's arm. "Nanoha, what happened after you...disappeared? Do you remember it at all?"

Nanoha hesitated, and then sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry, Fate. But it's all a blank. I remember...calling out for both of you. The fighting was going on all around us. The last thing I remember was falling to the floor when that...reptile was there..." She tried to cast her mind back even now and failed. Black pinpricks stabbed at her from the edge of her vision in just making the effort and her mind spun for a moment. "And then I woke up in the hospital right here with you. I don't know how much time had passed."

_And the recurring dreams about talking animals who never stop talking and keep going on about time travel,_ she thought to herself. _No, I don't need to tell Fate about them. They're probably just side-effects from my encounter. I don't want to worry her any more, not when she was in such a state before. She doesn't say how she was feeling whilst I was unconscious...but I can tell from the way she is right now._

"I guess we should have expected that," Fate said, forcing a smile. "But...maybe you'll remember in time. But it doesn't matter if it doesn't come back."

She leaned close and kissed Nanoha softly on the mouth. Their lips parted as the kiss grew in passion, growing fiercer as their tongues locked and their pulses quickened as one. Nanoha's eyelids closed partway, the desire in her face all too evident as she brought up one hand to take hold of Fate's chin and push her mouth harder onto hers.

"Mama," Vivio pouted, pulling at Fate's arm self-consciously.

Flushing, Fate tried to pull herself away from Nanoha and found it extremely difficult. It was Nanoha instead who eased her face away, gently extracting her tongue from hers, the taste of her lover circulating around inside her mouth.

"No flirting around Vivio," Fate panted, as their daughter rolled her eyes at the two of them. "Okay. I'll remember that next time."

Nanoha laughed, lying back on her elbows calmly. "We'll have plenty of time to ourselves later, Fate. Shamal can't keep me in this bed much longer now that I'm awake."

The red-eyed Enforcer sighed. "She'll probably want you checked up on for at least another few hours. And then Raging Heart needs to be finish its maintenance." She embraced Nanoha tightly for several moments, pressing her body against hers closely, feeling her skin against her own once more. It was a feeling she didn't want to forget again for a long time. "Nanoha, I - "

"Mama," Vivio said in a muffled tone, "you're both squashing me..."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Vivio! Did Fate-mama drop you? I'm - "

"Fate," Nanoha said, looking amused, "maybe you should take Vivio to school right now. It might be safer for all of us."

* * *

It was a few hours later on that day when Chrono's scheduled meeting to discuss the next steps of the TSA came about. It was similar to the last discussion where use of videoscreens across the Bureau made inter-departmental meetings much easier, but now things were different. Nanoha and Fate were back with everyone. The three Aces were back in control, and spirits were high.

Hayate had told Fate that if Nanoha wasn't feeling up to being included in the meeting, then she didn't have to. She kept her own feelings hidden; Nanoha's presence here could mean the difference between preservation and destruction. Hayate's gut feeling told her that Nanoha had experienced time-travel first-hand, just like she had, and might be able to give them more answers. Answers and information that could be crucial to what they did next. But Nanoha had refused, knowing that she had missed far too much in these past few days. She needed to know what was going on. Just like everyone else.

Hayate was also very glad to see that Chrono's unnatural suspicion of her own actions had not continued. It was the deceit at the last attack which had driven home his scepticism, but lately he had changed his attitude towards Hayate and become more open and trusting, until it seemed that he would relinquish leadership of the discussion back to her once more. Just like when she had commanded Riot Force 6 with everyone. Sometimes it seemed that none of them had ever left. But now Chrono had returned to the Asura, back to his own duties and responsibilities, and played his part in the decision-making process from there.

"All right, I think we're all here," Hayate announced. "There's too many of you. If you could just let me keep track for a moment? Chrono-kun, Yuuno-kun, Subaru-san, Tiana-san, Erio-san, Caro-san, Fate and...Nanoha. Okay. There's too many screens or I'd have invited the Wolkenritter too. Tiana-san, why are you in the wrong room? Didn't I tell you to stay in the same room as Subaru so that you could fit on the same connection? Never mind. Caro-san, the callsign for attendance is the wrong one you're pressing. The signal is showing that you're Vice-kun. You've put on the wrong videoscreen. That doesn't connect to central control. Shari, could you help me out here? Yes...yes...thank you. Thank you so much. No, Erio-san, your data influx is streaming in backwards for some reason. I think you're using the 12.3 upgrade and our systems all use the 13.8. Shari? No, apparently it isn't. Wait. Hang on. Shari, I'll let you take over. Hang on."

Fifteen minutes later:

"Okay, I _think_ we've got the hang of it now. Okay. The computer says it can't recognise you. Erio-san, my connection claims that you're Vita."

"I'm not Vita," Erio said from the other end.

"I know. I know you're not Vita. But these computers won't fix my upgrade." Hayate sighed heavily. "If you could all just bear with - "

Chrono exploded. "Are we going to start or not?" he demanded. "You can hear and see all of us just fine, can't you?"

"Yes," Hayate said nervously, "but I wanted it to be perfect for Nanoha's first day out of hospital."

"But I'm still in hospital," Nanoha called into her own communicator, sitting up in her hospital bed. "I'm speaking from here."

"Nanoha-san, you're okay?" Subaru said excitedly. "I sent you so many cards!"

"So did I!" Caro exclaimed.

"And me!"

"And me!"

"And m - "

"Will all of you be _quiet?_" Chrono cried down his line. "I haven't got all day for this. Nanoha, it's great that you're up and about."

"I'm still in bed, Chrono-kun," Nanoha said.

"Then it's great that you're up and about in bed. Hayate. Please. Stop trying to correct the computer."

"But Chrono-kun, it keeps trying to change my desktop wallpaper," the short-haired mage pouted. "I had a very special one of Nanoha and Fate together and it keeps changing it to Hello Kitty."

"_Never mind_ your wallpaper! Your wallpaper is not the point here! If you can connect to us just fine, then just start the meeting!"

"Does it still think I'm Vita?" Erio said anxiously.

A further five minutes later, and following much keyboard-tapping to satisfy Hayate, they were finally able to get down to business. They first spent some time filling in Nanoha on what had happened since her disappearance, just to bring her up to speed. Nanoha had heard much of it from Shamal and the other nurses and doctors at her ward, but it was good to hear it confirmed out loud again. Srethis' capture. Hayate forced into the past and then re-appearing just as everything died down again.

The mention of time-travel rang warning bells in her mind, alerting her to possible danger. The strange dreams she was having could not be a coincidence. As she listened intently, Nanoha realised that the others were looking to her – for guidance, for support, for hope, but also for answers. _But I don't remember anything. I don't know if I can give you those answers yet._

"Nanoha," Chrono said as they finished recapping everything that had happened since then, "We want you to know that nobody expects you to suddenly have the answer to all of our problems just because you've woken up. It would be nice if you did, and if you could shed any light on our current situation, then that would be fantastic. But it's fine if you don't have anything for us."

"Yes," Hayate chipped in, nodding. "We won't hold anything against you. And it would be unfair to expect miracles right now. After all...we were really worried about you." She didn't look at Fate. "And all this must be a shock to you. Talking about time travel and all sorts." Hayate gave a short nervous laugh. "You probably think I'm crazy for bringing up such wild ideas."

Nanoha gazed at her knowingly. "No," she said slowly. "I don't think you're crazy. I think you're brilliant. All of you." She felt Fate's hand in her own, and squeezed tight. "And I don't think I could have made it this far without your help." _I won't tell them that I don't remember anything, not yet. Despite what Hayate and Chrono say, everyone's looking to me for answers. And maybe I actually do have the answers...locked deep inside my mind. I don't want everyone to worry about me any more than they have to. _"So, Chrono-kun. Let's hear what you've got."

The blue-haired admiral nodded swiftly. "Yes. Firstly: the case of the Lost Logia that was stolen from the vaults. Yuuno-kun, if you could fill us in?"

Everyone looked towards the green-eyed archaeologist on the central screen, communicating from the Infinity Library. He looked slightly self-conscious at being the centre of attention for once, but then drew himself up excitedly.

"Absolutely," Yuuno said, his hands overflowing with notes, streams of data dashing across his own monitor. "And, I have to say...this is quite a discovery. The missing Lost Logia is _directly_ linked to Hayate's requests for research into time-travel! In fact, it is quite possibly the only link to time-travel that exists in the entirety of the Infinity Library." He frowned, looking down at his notes, his voice drifting into a low murmur. "And, to be honest, that seems strange to me, because if ever there was anything even remotely linked to time-travel, the TSA would have discovered it long ago and definitely promoted it...but here we are, with the information in our hands..."

"Yuuno-kun," Fate urged gently, before the researcher went into his own little world again.

Yuuno jolted out of his reverie. "Yes. Oh, yes! The Lost Logia." The excitement grew in his eyes once more, but in a controlled fashion. "Listen well, then, everybody. My information on the artifact is unfortunately not a hundred percent complete, but it is the best I have."

The others of the meeting waited with baited breath as Yuuno drew up the archived information from the screen in front of him.

"It is known as Oguba," the archaeologist started, wrapping his hands together in front of him. "That is the name of the Lost Logia that was found missing from the vaults. As for its abilities, Oguba is very similar to a Jewel Seed, but not identical. Like a Jewel Seed, it grants a specific wish of its user. However: it is written here that Oguba will grant one wish in exchange for _time energy._" Yuuno scratched his head in slight bewilderment, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know what that part means, to be honest. There is no mention of it, or any definition whatsoever, in the archive backlogs of the Lost Logia or of the Jewel Seeds." He cleared his throat, pushing the bridge of his glasses higher on his nose. "To be more precise, the Lost Logia known as Oguba will grant the wish of its user, but as I understand it...it will consume the time energy of the user in return."

There was a stricken silence upon the rest of the others upon hearing this, and faint murmuring and whispers among them about what exactly this could mean. The forwards were flushed and confused, Chrono's expression suggested that this was exactly what he didn't want to hear, and Hayate was looking at everyone triumphantly as if about to burst out and say _I told you so._

Nanoha, for her part, felt a cold feeling in her gut at Yuuno's explanation. Oguba...sounded familiar. Very, very familiar. She didn't get a good feeling from it at all. And if their enemies had taken hold of something like that, and were able to use it...

"So it allows you to travel through time?" Hayate was saying enthusiastically. "Is this what - "

Yuuno just looked at her, confused. "No," he said slowly. "I didn't say anything like that. It...seems to do the opposite. If your wish was to travel through time, then Oguba would surely do that for you – but so would any of the Jewel Seeds. The difference is in the _price_ you pay for doing so."

Hayate's face fell. Obviously this wasn't what she had wanted to hear.

"But you must understand that this explanation is still imprecise," Yuuno amended hurriedly. "There is surely more to the abilities of this Lost Logia. Perhaps there are conditions on just how far it could be used, and certainly how this "time energy" is represented."

_ I'm pretty sure I know exactly what it means by time energy, _Nanoha thought, the cold truth dawning upon her. _It's what happened to me after I blacked out. And if I ever remember what happened, then I'll know just how much Oguba is involved._

"This is still pretty complicated," Tiana said. "Hayate-san said the girl called Exoria was using time-based magic...so why would they need to steal Oguba?"

"We don't even know what time-based magic _is,_" Chrono said darkly. "This sounds like something out of fantasy. But the Lost Logia could permit such a thing, couldn't it, Yuuno-kun?" The green-eyed archaeologist nodded in response. "Yes. But if they were already capable of such abilities as travelling through time...like Tiana-san says, they wouldn't need Oguba."

_No,_ a voice in Nanoha's head piped up, _this is time travel we're dealing with here. Events are not in order. Imagine if Oguba had _already_ been stolen._

The realisation of such a thing brought the cold feeling back into heart, and she renewed her grip on Fate's wrist. Her lover looked at her in alarm for a moment, but Nanoha shook her head, indicating that everything was fine.

"Are you positive that you don't have anything else on time-travel, Yuuno-kun?" Hayate said beseechingly. "Anything else would help."

"I have no more concrete facts for you, I'm afraid, Hayate-san," Yuuno replied apologetically. "All I do have are myths and legends...and they all point to one thing which none of us want to delve into right now."

"And that is?" Chrono asked.

Yuuno hesitated for a split second before answering. "Alhazard." Seeing the wary and fearful looks being exchanged within their group, especially in the hospital room where Fate and Nanoha were communicating from, he went on to say, "But don't worry. That's all they are – myths and legends. The TSA verified a long time ago that Alhazard does not exist in any shape or form."

"And yet," Hayate countered bleakly, "the same could be said for time-travel."

Nanoha felt it was time for everyone to stop being so tense. They had enough to deal with already. How stressed must they have been when she was unconscious? "Everyone, please," she said, as all eyes turned to her. "Alhazard isn't what's important right now. The issue is the theft of Oguba and the people who attacked us recently. Let's focus on that, okay?" She turned to Chrono expectantly. "Chrono-kun, do we know anything about who or what we're dealing with?"

A brief nod from the blue-haired admiral seated in the Asura, a moment's relief with a renewed sense of direction. "We know three of the enemies that we're up against. Unfortunately, we have only been able to analyse one of them up close. That would be Srethis, the reptile that Fate-san captured. There was no available file of them on our entire database, so our information is limited."

"The other two who attacked us escaped, as you know," Hayate explained. "One was Exoria, the girl who tried to trap me in the past. She called herself a "Time Mage"when she spoke to me. As for our last opponent..." She motioned to Subaru and Tiana on the other line, who were communicating from their own quarters

Subaru raised her face to the videoscreen, raising her voice to be heard better. "Tiana and I fought a man who called himself Grylmark the Third," she said. "A summoner and an illusionist."

"I'm sorry?" Nanoha said incredulously. "How you can be a summoner _and_ an illusionist? You can't do both or one of your skills will suffer in the process."

Tiana shrugged. "Grylmark was succeeding in both areas when we found him. He was responsible for the summoning of the monsters which acted as a decoy against the vaults when Oguba was stolen, and used illusion spells to avoid capture at the same time."

_What a mystery, _Nanoha thought. _One of our opponents can already travel through time, another can use powers that he shouldn't physically be capable of – at least not in one lifetime anyway – and the third is unknown throughout all planets under our jurisdiction. And there could be _more_ of them. We need to be ready. The Bureau can't afford to be caught by surprise again._

"Okay then," she said, trying to think. "So what about Srethis? I take it you questioned them?"

"Yes, but we might as well have not bothered," Chrono replied falteringly. "Srethis constantly behaved as if it couldn't remember, or its answers were extremely vague. If we pushed it too hard, it wouldn't respond for hours." He looked faintly disgusted just thinking about it. "In the end, we didn't get anything out of them. But maybe you might have better luck, Nanoha."

And then, just moments after he finished speaking, Nanoha felt Chrono speaking to her telepathically inside her head: _Nanoha, I need to speak to you about Raging Heart. We've covered everything else, but the forwards probably don't need to stay to hear this._

_ I understand_, she replied. Out loud, she said brightly, "I think our strategy is clear for the time being. Subaru, Tiana, Erio and Caro...I know you have training to do." The forwards nodded as one enthusiastically. "You should be off then before our voices bore you to death, right?"

"You aren't boring, Nanoha-san!" Subaru said devotedly. "I could listen to you all da- "

Tiana shot her blue-haired friend a fierce look and she quickly shut up. "I guess we need to go then," she said quickly. "I hope you get better soon, Nanoha-san!"

"Me too!" Erio chorused.

"And me!" Caro joined in. "Did you get my card?"

"Yes," Fate said placidly. "Yes, we did."

"It's the one with - "

"Yes, Caro," the blonde Enforcer said patiently. "It's the only card which melted. Nanoha and me could recognise it anywhere."

"Oh." The summoner's face drooped upon hearing this. "I'll send another one then - "

"No, no," Nanoha intervened quickly. "You don't need to. It was a beautiful card and I loved every drop of moisture that oozed from it."

"Posthumously," Fate sighed quietly under her breath.

The four forwards disappeared from their individual videoscreens as they left the conversation, the connection going dead at each terminal. Yuuno mentioned something quietly to Chrono, and the admiral nodded as the researcher also left the meeting, making his excuses about lots of work and research to do. Soon, the only people left in the group were Chrono and the three Aces themselves.

"How are you feeling, Nanoha?" Hayate asked seriously. "Are you really as okay as you look?"

Nanoha nodded. "Partial memory-loss, but I really am fine."

"That's good to hear," said Chrono, his eyes hard, "because I have some bad news for you, Nanoha."

_Uh-oh. There's more? _She tried to steel herself for it, feeling Fate lean in close to her, and immediately felt better. "What is it?"

"Raging Heart," the blue-haired mage said uncomfortably. "According to Mariel, it's asking for parts and components that...we don't have." His expression was troubled. "And if we don't have the parts, then you won't be able to use Raging Heart at all."

Nanoha tried to calm the sudden tremor in her voice. "Parts?"

It was not an unfamiliar situation to her. Raging Heart had not asked for new parts since...since the Book of Darkness incident...

Fate said thoughtfully, "There can only be one reason why your device is asking for an upgrade, Nanoha. Chrono-kun, are the parts involved anything to do with...?"

"Yes," Chrono said immediately. "Mariel sent me the list. Every component mentions _Oguba_ in its description. Leading me to believe..." He paused for a few seconds, swallowing. "Nanoha, I think the missing "parts" are all parts which belong to Oguba."

_I don't remember what happened to me whilst I was unconscious. I blacked out. But Raging Heart was with me. Raging Heart would know exactly what happened, because of its nature. It might not be affected like I was. And if it knows the truth..._

"Oguba?" she said in disbelief, trying to piece all this together. "You're saying that Raging Heart is asking for parts out of a _Lost Logia?_ And such a dangerous one?"

"Well, it's not like we have Oguba anymore," Hayate remarked. "Not now it's been taken from us. We can't meet Raging Heart's requirements in any case. But you're right, Nanoha. Using Oguba just to upgrade a mage's device could be lethal." She shivered. "It would be like if I were to feed a Jewel Seed right into Reinforce..."

"We can't do anything about it now," Fate said softly. "If we're attacked again, we'll just have to face them without Nanoha." She smiled faintly. "We can protect her."

"But..." Nanoha stammered, when she felt the blonde-haired mage push two fingers against her lips to hush her. Frustrated, she lay back in bed, feeling pretty useless. It was wonderful to be back with everyone, but not being able to transform? Raging Heart didn't need Oguba's parts _that_ badly, did it? If she just sat down and talked to it...

"We'll be fine, Nanoha," Hayate assured her warmly. "Don't worry."

"I _am_ worrying! You're up against enemies that no one fully understands, I've lost my memory, we might be under attack by time-travelling aliens, and I keep having - " Nanoha managed to stop herself from telling them about the dreams just in time. Fate's hand in her own was still warm, still clinging on to her and forcing the world into focus around her. "Is there anything else that I need to know?" she said finally. "Anything at all?"

She caught the three of them exchanging worried glances, and her hackles rose. They were hiding something for her. She knew they were only doing it so that she didn't feel any more threatened, but Nanoha wanted to _know. _There were enough mysteries surrounding them as it was.

"What is it?" she said sharply. "_Tell_ me."

Fate glanced nervously at Chrono and Hayate, who shook their heads. She tried to meet her lover's fierce gaze, but it was obvious that she was finding it difficult. "There were marks on your skin when I found you, Nanoha."

"_What?_"

"Blue runes. Writing. They're gone now." There was a mix of desperation and rising panic coming from the blonde woman in front of her. "Please, Nanoha...you have to keep it together. I need you to. I'm..." _I'm lost without you, _she wanted to say.

This wasn't helping Nanoha feel any better. "Runes?" she repeated in alarm. "And what do we do if they come _back?_"

Chrono was losing patience. "You asked us to tell you," he said irritably. "And really – there's nothing to worry about, Nanoha. Calm down. We've got everything under control. If our enemies attack again, we can fight them off just like we did before. If you can't transform without Oguba's parts, then we'll just have to take Oguba back from the people who took it. It's pretty simple."

Nanoha eased her arm tighter around Fate's, calming her nerves just slightly. "It's not simple at all," she sighed. "But I trust you, Chrono-kun. You should do whatever you have to do."

_I didn't expect this to happen, _she thought as she hung onto Fate. The temporary loss of Raging Heart had felt really crippling. If she couldn't transform, she couldn't fight, and if she couldn't fight...she couldn't protect Vivio. That was the part which frightened her.

_ I wanted to wake up with Fate and Vivio by my side. And I did, but I didn't want all of this as well. Everyone needs me more than ever, and for the second time in my life, I'm not able to help. It's the feeling of uselessness that can kill you. But I need to trust in my friends. And value them. If I don't do that, then there's no point in any of this at all. _Her face shook with determination. _That's all I need to do for now._

* * *

The three most active members of the Wolkenritter sat gathered around the hospital bed in Ward 4X. It was a very unique ward, in the sense that no other hospital ward had an entire floor to itself, nor was surrounded by thick impenetrable steel walls, nor required two sets of security checks to access through a dual-locked sealed bulkhead.

Vita watched as Shamal dressed the wounded reptile's wounds, her brow knitted in concentration as she attended to its most urgent needs. Anyone could see that the creature was in bad shape, but since Shamal hadn't hit red-alert and called for every surgeon on duty to back her up, it was safe assume that Srethis wasn't going to drop dead any time soon.

"Are they okay?" Vita asked. The lizard fascinated her in ways that she couldn't explain. From the scales covering its body to the broad wings that now lay folded up across its back...what was it? Could it be an experiment of some kind? If so...

Shamal cast her a disapproving look which suggested that she still wasn't happy about Vita leaving the hospital early. "For now, yes. I've treated their injuries and given them a small dosage of morphine so they can sleep it off. Srethis just needs some rest."

" "Srethis"?" the red-haired mage repeated.

"That's their name. They were one of the people who attacked the Bureau whilst you were still sick. I guess you wouldn't have known, Vita."

Vita stared down at the reptile with mixed emotions. She had helped an _enemy? _Maybe it hadn't been the best decision back then, but...

"They must have tried to escape," Signum said with a measure of hostility in her voice. "I was there when Fate-san brought them in, and again when Chrono-kun moved Srethis to the high-security detention cells. The only way it could have escaped was if it made a break for it on the way there. If anyone was killed in the process..." She let the sentence hang in the air.

Vita let her breath out heavily. So she had really aided a dangerous criminal? What had they done? "Shamal, you said they were going to get better?"

"I hope so," the medical mage replied.

It wasn't quite the response that Vita had expected. The blonde doctor had seemed so efficient and in control of what she was doing, even with dealing with the injuries of somebody who wasn't human.

"You mean you don't know?" the red-haired mage said in surprise. "I thought you said - "

"I said that they'll be fine for the moment. It's the future I can't predict. No one can predict the future." Shamal took Srethis' wrist gently, feeling the pulse that echoed within. "To be honest...I'm very worried about their condition. According to the report, Srethis has very good regenerative magic at their disposal. They should be able to heal such injuries on the spot."

"Srethis is an enemy of the TSA," Signum said. "Their actions almost caused us to lose Nanoha-san."

Shamal's red eyes were filled with sympathy. "No, Signum. As long as they are inside my hospital, Srethis is just another patient. I will give them as much care as consideration as to every patient of mine, no matter where their disposition lies." She laid the reptile's wrist back across the side of the bed as it stirred slightly. "I have a feeling that either Srethis wasn't able to use its restorative magic to heal itself, or..."

"Or what?" Vita said suspiciously.

"Or the wounds were internal. The real danger being from inside its own body. I found some evidence of that from my own check-up of Srethis' body, but..." Her face spoke of self-disappointment. "They're not human. I don't know what to give them to help them get better. What might be an elixir to us could be a poison to Srethis. I was taking a gamble with the morphine, but they seemed in so much pain."

The lizard on the bed moved its head as she finished speaking, its arms brushing achingly at the sheets. It coughed mildly, swallowing and breathing the air in deeply. Signum quickly put a bit more distance between herself and the bed.

Then Srethis' eyes flicked open and stared directly at Vita, who was sitting closest to it. The red-haired mage returned the stare, not really feeling repulsed or threatened, gazing into those dark-green pupils with interest. The lizard's eyes widened with surprise and recognition.

"You," it whispered. "You ssaved Srethis' life."

Vita shuffled her feet awkwardly, but didn't look away. "You weren't going to die."

"No," Srethis said, pushing itself against the bedstead, "Srethis wass. The other Bureau agentss, they were going to kill Srethis. But Srethis knew. Srethiss ran."

"Kill?" Signum said in bewilderment from the other side of the room with a frown. "Don't talk nonsense. Nobody was trying to kill you! We want you alive in case you can actually help us!"

Srethis didn't even look over to the swordswoman. "No...no." Its voice sounded weak and faint, as if it were calling from a far-away place. "Bureau agentss do not know. By keeping Srethis here, they are ssentencing Srethis to death. They offer food and drink...but Srethis does not, does not feel hunger or thirsst..." It bent its neck low, swallowing harder. "There is only the medicine now. Otherwise..."

Shamal knelt close to the bed quickly. "Medicine?" she asked. "What medicine is this?"

The lizard eyed her distastefully, a leer staining its upper lip.

"I'm a doctor," the medical mage said. "I want to help you."

Srethis gave a hard laugh in response. "Even if that iss true, Srethis' medicine is beyond your human handss. You will never find it if you ssearch the universe, ssearch all of sspace and time itself..."

"And what if you're wrong?" Vita said shortly. "What if we can find this medicine of yours?"

She still didn't why she was helping the reptile. It could have been a murderer for all she knew. Maybe it was Hayate's goodwill to her from the day they met, rubbing off on her. But some part of her felt like not doing so would be condemning Srethis to death.

Apparently, Signum was sharing similar thoughts. "What are you doing, Vita?" the tall swordswoman enquired with hard eyes. "You're going to help one of our attackers? What are you going to do when they turn on us and threaten to bring the TSA down from within?"

"Srethis will no ssuch thing," the reptile hissed, pulling itself into a seated position. "Srethis is cut off now from itss organisation. No part in anything anymore, save the inevitability of death." It closed its eyes for a moment, hunched up over its healing stomach wounds. "Srethis perhapss hoped that its one friend would come and help rescue Srethis, but only - "

There was a _crack_ as every light in the ward went out at the same time. The entire room was plunged into darkness, the steel walls closing in around them and devoid of any other source of light. Stunned, the three members of the Wolkenritter whirled around expectantly. This was no sudden power failure.

Signum and Shamal transformed in an instant, the light of their weapons casting an eerie glow around the entire room. Vita made a brief attempt, but it was no use – Graf Eisen was still not responding. It had picked the perfect time to malfunction, she could say that much.

"What's going on here?" Signum snapped, Laevatein tense by her side. "Is the power down all over the hospital?"

"I don't know," Shamal whispered, her eyes watching the shadows. "Srethis...?"

The reptile remained silent, its emerald eyes filled with mystery.

"Vita?" Signum said tightly. "Why haven't you transformed?"

The red-haired mage steeled herself for this. "Because - "

All of a sudden, every light came on again at once, and vision returned in an instant. It wasn't the only thing that returned. The crackling noise from before had increased threefold as black sparks shot between the panels of the opposite wall at Srethis' bed.

And then a whirling vortex of darkness opened out of the wall, sparks crackling out of each side, and a tall, lean creature stepped out with magical power brewing at its fingertips. It regarded each of them for a moment, and then its eyes shot to Srethis lying wounded just inches away. Recognition filled its face, distorting its features wildly, relief and pleasure zig-zagging across it.

If Srethis had seemed a foreign creature to the three of them before, then it was nothing compared to who stood before them now. Because the newcomer was undeniably alien in every single way. They stood as tall as Signum, dressed in a non-sensically multi-coloured array of garments which covered it from the neck down. A velvet hood covered the top of its head, and a silky scarf was wrapped around its mouth.

Hooks and curved spikes covered its shoulders and back, which broke through the cover of its clothing, and as it moved its arms, the spikes flexed too, as if connected to the same muscles. It was barefoot, but those feet were a fiery-red and looked disturbingly human-shaped. As for the arms...one of them hang limply to the side as if it were broken. The other was fiercely muscled and ended in three fingers and a thumb, all of which had the same hooks and spikes standing out across its body.

The alien blinked eyes the colour of blood as it saw them, wide, emboldened.

"Oh. Hey!" it exclaimed. "Finally. Finally _finally!_" It picked up the limb arm with its good arm and waved it at the lizard lying on the bed. "Good to see you, Srethis. Oh, but it is _so_ good, like you wouldn't _believe!_ And it looks like no one's been giving you your medicine! Well, we should remedy that, shouldn't we?" Its eyes narrowed as it glanced furtively around the room. "Did you see? Did you see what I did there?"

Signum took a step forward, the shadow of surprise gone from the room. "Who are you?" she demanded. "How did you get in there? Are you one of Srethis' allies?"

The alien raised its arm. _"__Chronological Time Switch!_" it roared.

Unprepared to be attacked so soon, the other three members of the Wolkenritter immediately held their devices up to defend themselves, protection spells forming around them in a second. Vita dived to the floor in her hospital gown to avoid getting hit -

A few seconds passed before they realised that absolutely nothing had happened.

"Oh, _great,_" the alien said disappointedly. "It didn't work. I knew it wasn't going to work. How can I say I didn't? Because I used too many time spells on the way in. Did you have to move dear Srethis around so much? Do you _know_ how many time spells I had to cast just to try and find them? Well, there goes the escape plan." It tried to throw up its hands, but one of them didn't move, so it settled for throwing up just one. "Blah! Blah! Stupid. You aren't going to let me and Srethis just walk out, are you?"

"Excuse me," Signum said angrily, trying to get a word in edgeways, since the creature seemed to be arguing with itself at the same time. "Will you answer my question? Who _are_ you...and what are you doing here?"

The aliens red eyes blinked at her rapidly. "Oh. Ohh! That's _good_, I tell you. Well done! Do the show, take a bow, and let me introduce myself. Of course you'll let me. I said, didn't I?" It took hold of its limp arm, and half-bowed, holding onto the hood to stop it falling off. "Okay! That's all done. So?"

"Will you stop talking like that?" Vita demanded, desperately trying to transform and failing.

"Oh, of course!" the alien exclaimed. "I'm getting to that. Why, let me introduce myself! Again! I am Ungore, sole survivor of the Hunzichille Beta Catastrophe, and servant to Oguba. Now, perhaps you should give Srethis back to me or I will have to kill you all." It held each of its three fingers up in the air. "With theeese fingers! So answer quickly, because I'm on a time limit here!"


	12. Rescue

For long seconds that seemed to stretch on forever, nobody moved. Signum and Shamal were tense in the midst of high-area protection spells drawn up around them, their attention on the tall alien in front of them. Srethis was still sat up in the same position on the hospital bed, looking up at Ungore with a mixture of bewilderment and awe.

_They weren't expecting anyone to rescue them, _Vita realised. She still couldn't transform at all no matter how hard she tried. _Not the way they were acting. Which means..._

"Do you plan to fight us all?" Signum said, a pulsating red light moving up and down her weapon steadily. "Even if you are one of Srethis' allies, there is no need for violence. We can resolve this peacefully."

Ungore blinked once, twice. "Peacefully?" it repeated. "And leave Srethis to die?"

"They're not going to d- "

"Oh, but they _are!" _the alien exclaimed, raising a hand to its forehead and stroking the side of its hood with those three lean fingers. "You see, what your intelligence fails to tell you is _exactly_ what is wrong with Srethis. Perhaps you have questioned them, hmm? And found their memory to be lacking in places?"

Signum shifted uneasily. "It's true that Srethis' answers were vague and - "

"Yes! Of course, they would be," Ungore said with evident relish. "Because, because you see, Srethis does not _remember_ who it is. Names carry on, but that is all. No memory of race, species, deaths, history or much of anything at all. They remember me, of course. They will always remember me."

Vita struggled to her feet, despite her own vulnerability. "Why is that?" she demanded. "Have you done something to them?"

The alien laughed, a high-pitched half-shriek. "Oh no! What Srethis has done, it did to itself. There is a substance from times forgotten, a substance that Srethis relies on for survival. It does not need to rely on normal, normal _human_ needs shall I say, but its body has become heavily dependent on this substance to a degree that it cannot live without it."

Srethis lifted its head, seeming to understand. "Medicine," it croaked slowly. "Need...medicine."

"Ha!" Ungore scoffed. "Your medicine is no cure, Srethis, no cure to the disease known as life. Didn't I tell you it would kill you in the end? But still, we cannot be alone in the universe. I have your medicine, waiting with everyone else on the other side." It extended an outstretched palm towards the sick creature. "Come. Time to go."

Signum and Vita stepped forward as one to block the creature's path.

"I cannot let you leave just like that," Signum said. "Even if what you say is true, Srethis is still under arrest by the Time-Space Administration Bureau for their crimes against us." She tightened her grip on Laevatein. "Also...we will need you to come with us for questioning, Ungore. If you surrender quietly - "

"Surrender!" Ungore repeated faintly. "I am not here to surrender anything. I am here to save a friend. Your Tamagochi Nanoha seems to preach enough about friendship!"

"_Tamakachi_ Nanoha," Vita corrected with a hint of irritation.

Srethis sat up straighter in its bed, beginning to move its body. "Ungore," it said, "did you really come alone? The otherss...they would not..."

The alien sighed. "Yes, Srethis," it said with regret. "I'm alone. I'm acting independently here."

"Then you are a fool," the lizard hissed, not without sympathy. "Srethis did not think you wanted to die with Srethis. Do not hurt them too much; one of them saved my life."

"You're alone?" Signum frowned upon hearing this. The first attack on the TSA had been carefully planned and devised in advance. This "rescue"...sounded like something badly-executed, done on the spur of the moment. "Then I would advise you once more to surrender quietly. You have no way to escape, no other allies to help, and - "

Ungore raised a three-fingered hand in the air, palm facing outwards. _"__Hellish Ice Needles__!"_

An enormous torrent of energy surged through from its hand and came forward towards the three members of the Wolkenritter. Caught unawares, Signum brought Laevatein forward to defend. The energy wave glanced off the edge of the blade and smashed into the ceiling of the ward, burning through the steel in an instant. The brunt of the shockwaves slammed back to the epicentre of the attack and exploded in all directions.

Vita had just a moment's panic of realisation that the impact was going to hit her head-on – _I need to transform! Now! - _before it struck. The metal walls on all sides were ripped apart as the energy struggled to expand to its maximum potential in the confined ward, ripping steaming holes left, right and centre. Hospital cabinets, tables and chairs were sent flying, the force virtually tearing them apart as they smashed against what remained of the walls. The beds were lifted off the ground as if they were nothing and thrown aside uselessly in a twisted mess, broken among the rubble of the ward.

The ceiling caved in from the floor above as Signum was hurled backwards. She cried out as tons of plaster, rocks and stone came down in an avalanche, burying her underneath and cutting her off completely.

Slowly, the smoke began to clear. Ungore was standing in the same position, its hand steaming. The bed Srethis had been on was in about seven different pieces, but the lizard itself was unharmed at Ungore's side, shielded from the blast. The wall behind them had been twisted and bent, with a gaping hole opening out at the end where the open air breezed in.

The alien shook its head in wonder.

"Whoops!" it exclaimed. "Mistake. My mistake. I meant to do _Hellish Ice Needles_ but then, hey, what happened? Say one thing and do another, that's how it is! That was a different spell. Went and did _Neo-Vascular Plasma Surge _instead. Sorry. Sorry! Low-powered version too. Now, Srethis. Sorry, I couldn't tell you in advance. I told you I knew what I was doi- "

Slowly, Vita stepped out from behind the wreckage of several cabinets and what had used to be the railings for a bed. The shimmering green glow of Shamal's protection spell flickered and faded away as the medical mage also came out to stand right next to her.

"Oh?" the alien said, thrown off-balance. "You're still alive?" It scratched its head. "What's with the new costume?"

Fully transformed in her red-and-black beret and dress with boots and gloves to match, Vita raised Graf Eisen in her hands. The metal hammer felt comfortable in her hands, an old friend come home. It ached to smash something, and here was somebody who needed to be crushed. Her blue eyes blazed with fury.

She still didn't know why she'd had so much trouble transforming before. But that wasn't important right now. Maybe Graf Eisen had felt her plea for help, sensed that her life was in danger, and made the final push.

"Now I'm pissed off," she growled. "Shamal?"

"Right with you, Vita," the blonde mage affirmed. "No one blows up my hospital."

Ungore lifted a hand up openly, trying to look vaguely apologetic. "Blow it up? Hey now. That was a mistake. So sorry about that. Wrong spell. You know when you try and do the spell to freeze someone to death from the inside and you end up blowing up the place and leaving them alive instead? Only, the other way round, right? That kind of mistake."

Vita raised Graf Eisen up with both hands, feeling the strength well up inside her once more. "And it's the last mistake you'll ever make."

* * *

"She looks so peaceful," Subaru murmured.

Fate looked up in surprise to see Nanoha's two most promising students enter the ward. Ever since the Aces of Aces had woken up, Shamal had allowed visitors in to see her. It hadn't prevented her from keeping Nanoha in bed, though – the medical mage insisted that Nanoha's experience must have been mentally traumatic to some degree if it had gone so far as to cause memory loss. So Nanoha was going to remain in hospital for just another day. When she woke up once more, everything would be back to normal.

Subaru and Tiana stepped inside with their arms full of flowers, intricate and beautiful garlands, hopeful faces looking towards Fate when they saw that Nanoha was fast asleep. The brunette mage had mentioned how unnaturally exhausted she had felt a few hours earlier, and was now in deep slumber. That was for the best, Shamal had said. She probably still needed to recover the remainder of what she had lost in these past few days.

Awkwardly, the two forwards stepped over another overflowing pile of cards and looked around to see where they could put their flowers. There wasn't any room, even though Fate had tried moving some of the piles about so that they could at least walk in a card-free zone.

"It's all right, Tiana, Subaru," Fate said with a smile. "You can just put the flowers on the bed. She'll see them when she wakes up."

It was sweet of the two of them to bring something extra for Nanoha, Fate thought, as the two forwards laid their gifts upon the bedcovers, but before long I'm going to have to let Shamal know that the amount of presents is just ridiculous. Nanoha was really being very stubborn in not throwing a single one of the cards away.

"Will you be okay, Fate-san?" Tiana asked. "You haven't left the hospital for hours and your classes are - "

"I'll be fine, Tiana," the Enforcer said quickly. "It's okay." She wasn't about to leave Nanoha alone now. Vivio was in safe hands back at home, and she'd seen to her dinner and the rest of her needs, so this wasn't a case of staying up all night like last time, but at least she knew now that Vivio wasn't going to be alone again. But still, she couldn't bring herself to leave. It was as if something might happen to Nanoha in that short span of time in which she was vacant...

Subaru's eyes were troubled, yet mixed with a sense of relief. After all, it could be so much worse. "You look tired, Fate-san," she said, as the two of them turned to leave. "Please don't overdo it too much, okay?"

The blonde mage nodded slightly as the door closed behind them, leaving her alone with her sleeping lover. Alone just like she had wanted, without anyone else to bother them. She wanted Nanoha to be awake with her, but...Fate sighed. She shouldn't rush it. Anything that she had to say to Nanoha, she could always say to her later. But when Nanoha was with her, it seemed that everything vanished out of her head.

The silence was all around her, punctured only by the sound of Nanoha's breathing as Fate watched her, her breasts moving up and down with each breath. She moved her hands across the brunette's beautiful hair, combing through her strands lovingly, stroking her cheek softly. She stopped halfway as her hand made contact, fearful that she might have woken her. But Nanoha didn't wake; she just slept on.

_Should I say something to her whilst she's asleep? Would that help her? But everyone says she doesn't need help. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe _I'm_ the one that needs help. Nanoha's just sleeping. I'm just being paranoid. It isn't like last time, and she's the same Nanoha that I've always known. But...I have things I need to tell her. And not the usual things. _

Fate traced the tips of her fingers across Nanoha's lips, and moved her mouth close to her ear.

"It's okay," she whispered. "Vivio's fine. You're worrying about how we're all going to fare, but we can't lose as long as you're with us, Nanoha. You always bring out the best in all of us, remember? And...I need you. I know you'll wake up. I'm just...I'm just worrying over nothing." She closed her eyes despite herself, melting her hand against Nanoha's own. It calmed her, just being this close to her. "Don't worry about anything anymore. Especially not about me. I'll bear the weight of all of that as long as you need me to. Just...be my side once more."

With her eyes tightly closed, Fate placed a kiss on Nanoha's forehead, a wish of recovery.

The skin burned beneath her touch, and she felt something move in response.

Quickly, she opened her eyes to see that from the point of the kiss, blue runes were extending in all directions across Nanoha's face. The same blue writing from before. It was lancing up and down the brunette's body like electricity, zigzagging across her skin as if alive. The runes melded over one another and began rising to the surface, causing Nanoha to stir in her sleep, shifting from side to side uneasily.

_No! _Fate wanted to scream. _What happened? Did I do this? Nanoha, is this all my fault after all?_

She could almost feel Nanoha's skin growing cold already. The pall of death descending upon her. She let go of the brunette quickly, not wanting to feel that fear become reality. If Nanoha was taken away from her now, after everything -

"_Oguba._"

The cry that came from the mage's mouth seemed unfamiliar and alien as Nanoha sat up straight in her bed, her eyes flicking open, unseeing, staring straight ahead. Her eyes seemed so...empty. Her movements were becoming stiff and robotic as she peeled the covers away from her, discarding the flowers and flinging them onto the floor as if they were nothing.

"_Oguba,_" Nanoha repeated in a dull monotone. "_Oguba._"

Her arms came up in jerky movements as her body moved towards the closed door at the end of the ward. She didn't reach up to open the door but _walked right through the material_, as if it were water. Like walking through walls.

_Nanoha?!_

Fate pushed down the terror welling up inside her, the fear that something had taken hold of Nanoha from inside – and yanked upon the door herself to see Nanoha continuing forward across the hospital corridor, away from her. The runes blazed across her skin continuously, burning into her. There was no one else on sight in the hospital.

_It's almost as if she's sleepwalking_, Fate thought. _If I...if I could wake her up...but that might do more harm than good..._

She watched as Nanoha moved right through the main doors and exited the hospital, her body melting through the walls, chanting Oguba's name as the runes flashed. Where was she going? Whatever was inside her was forcing her towards a specific destination.

This is my fault, Fate thought. It must be. Her heart in her mouth, she ran out of the hospital after Nanoha, unsure if she was seeking something greater than she might have bargained for.

* * *

Back in the control room, the surveillance systems were going wild. The explosion in the hospital wing had knocked out at least one of the main screens and it was difficult to tell the cause from any of the other systems. But it didn't take more than an educated guess to work it out. Srethis had escaped from its guards very recently and the explosion was too much of a coincidence.

"Shari, what's going on down there?" Hayate yelled. "What happened in the hospital?"

Slowly the damage reports began to come through: a massive explosion of energy had taken out the whole of Ward 4X. The rest of the hospital was relatively okay, which allowed Hayate to relax a little since a great number of their troops were still recovering in the other wards. But Ward 4X? Heavily fortified, reinforced steel walls on all sides...it had been built for the purpose of housing only the most dangerous of criminals that the Bureau brought in. Why would the explosion be there?

The reports gave no indication of what was going on, since all of the security and surveillance for Ward 4X had been completely obliterated. But Hayate found it pretty easy to figure out – the only thing that could cause such a huge amount of damage would be a high-powered mage attack. Nanoha could do it easily, for example.

Which meant that either one of their own mages had used it as an attack, or that one of their opponents was down there. It wasn't Srethis; Fate's summary of the reptile's abilities had been quite clear that Srethis was not an experienced mage of any degree. So whoever was in Ward 4X right now...

"One of Srethis' allies," Hayate said, half to herself. "They've come to rescue them. But why did they attack the hospital...?"

She hadn't received any information on Srethis' whereabouts either. Maybe the lizard had reached the hospital, or been shot down by Bureau mages. What mattered was that one of Srethis' allies was attacking them right on TSA territory.

If they could capture this new enemy, they would have a lead. Their chances of working out who or what was behind all of this would be much higher. That is, on the condition that they weren't being attacked by another shape-shifting lizard who insisted on knowing nothing all the time. But if this adversary was anything like Srethis, then they wouldn't have tried attacking the hospital in the first place...

"Send some of our agents down to the hospital wing at once," she ordered. "Are Tiana and Subaru on duty right now?"

"They were on their way to visit Nanoha, I think," Shari replied, flicking through the screens.

_Nanoha?_ Hayate did a double-take for a moment before she realised that Nanoha's ward was in a separate annex completely from the rest of the hospital on the other side of the compound. Could she have something to do with th- no, that was impossible. She must still be asleep.

"All right, then," she said reluctantly. Subaru and Tiana would probably be too far away to help right now. Capturing their intruder was all about timing. "Send Erio and Caro over to the hospital instead to investigate. If they find the culprit of the explosion, they are to arrest them and bring them to - "

An animal-like howl sounded from far-away, followed by screams and roars echoing down across the length of the compound. Shari turned several of the surveillance monitors westward to pinpoint the sound. There was the sound of wrenching and crashing, and three monitors immediately went dead.

"What was that?" Hayate said sharply. This sounded familiar. Just like when... "Turn the rest of the monitors to focus on the vaults. Are our enemies coming back for the rest of the Lost Logia?"

Shari changed the focus of the surveillance monitors as she asked. The Bureau Vaults showed no activity. No enemies attacking, no opponents charging at them...nothing. No one was coming to steal the rest of the Lost Logia. That was strange. Their defences at the vault were still weak from last time. Their enemies could have attacked them easily there and broken through and -

Another series of beastly howls rose up into the air. Closer.

Shaking slightly, Shari brought up the cameras from the immediate perimeter.

The sight of dozens of monstrous mutants leering at close distance, claws and teeth slashing at the mages and soldiers on guard, came up on screen. The same ones who had attacked the vaults before, as a decoy. Were they a decoy again here? The summoner from before must have been responsible.

_Why are they attacking us here? _Hayate thought in frustration. _They're attacking our most closely-guarded perimeters which we can easily defend. If they really wanted to cripple us, wouldn't they attack the vaults, where we are still rebuilding?_

Even for a decoy, it didn't seem as well-thought out as before. In fact, it was as if someone had thought it up at the last minute. There weren't as many mutants attacking, and a lot of them were still illusions. And this time, the majority of the mages at the Bureau were well-prepared for the attack, and were pushing back the enemy with little difficulty. They weren't even that much of a threat, but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous.

Still, Hayate realised that the existence of the mutants again meant that...the summoner from before was around. _Another_ of Srethis' allies, perhaps? If she split their forces, maybe she could capture both of them, including whoever was wreaking havoc in Ward 4X, and kill two birds with one stone. It was quite possible.

"I want to talk to the forwards, all four of them," she said silkily to Shari. "Contact them all and open up their channels to me personally. I intend to come out on top on this one."


	13. Into Reality

_ It's the same dream again, but somewhat distorted. The clearing where she first met Yuuno, where everything began and her life was changed forever. Except that Yuuno isn't here anymore, not in this world. The trees don't seem to be real either, not the wind rushing through her hair, not anything. She tries to tiptoe across the grass, feeling as if she's treading on eggshells. With every step the images around her shimmer and waver, as if faltering before the foundation of reality. _

_ "Mama! Mama!"_

_ Nanoha turns around, seeing Vivio rushing over to her in the shadow of the trees, green and red eyes widening excitedly at her presence. But her daughter is running too fast, stepping far too firmly on the fragile illusion keeping the dream together. She trips, falls. And Vivio's body melts into the shadows enveloping the dream, lost forever before the stunned expression on her face that isn't even fully formed._

_ "Vivio!" she cries, rushing forward to cradle her daughter. But there's nothing there, only transparent wisps of air that fold away into the casual dream world around her. Was Vivio an illusion too? Each and every time, it's her alone, always alone, in the shadow of a past that doesn't seem to exist - _

_ There is a rustling amongst the place where Vivio fell, and a different child rears up instead, looking up at Nanoha curiously. It looks a lot like her daughter, but at the same time is very different. Different times collide, creating different experiences._

_ "Oh," Nanoha says, understanding again with the accompanied disappointment. "It's you again."_

_ First a bear, then a camel, and now...taking on the guise of her own child. All she knows is that it is somehow linked to time travel and what happened to her. They really do seem very familiar, though. But she wonders...maybe..._

_ "Takamachi Nanoha," the child says. "It seems one of your loved ones insists on awakening me. Maybe by accident, maybe deliberately. I've been waiting for you to remember me, but it seems that maybe you need some inside influence. This is the last time I will communicate with you in this world. From here on, your past, present and future will coincide with each other at one single point, Takamachi Nanoha."_

_ Nanoha reaches out to touch the child, and feels that their skin is burning. No...that's not quite true. _She_ is the one who is burning up. Nanoha looks at her hand, seeing a single word carved on her finger in blue letters where she touched the child. Blue...runes...?_

_ "What is this?" she says warily. "Is it dangerous?"_

_ The child shakes its head. "That is simply proof of our contract, the words that mark you. You have received it before in the past."_

_ "I don't remember any such contract. I don't even remember who you are." Nanoha clings onto the last vestiges of what makes sense to her here at a ll. "Should I?"_

_ The child shrugs and raises a finger, puncturing the air of the dream world itself. Ripples of time gorge out from its touch in all directions, like a droplet of water disturbing a still pool, and the world around Nanoha seems to change and distort dramatically. The grass on which she stands seems to shake unsteadily, threatening to swallow her up just like it did Vivio._

_ "Follow me," the child says, and disappears into the ripple itself._

_ Hesitantly, Nanoha does so as the world collapses around her. It isn't a ripple, but more like a portal. A portal in _time. _Voices and memories flash across the edges of her vision as she follows the child onwards, so that it feels like they're walking side by side in a corridor of her own life. She hears Fate and Hayate's voices around her, urging to wake up. Vivio's plea to her, and Fate's sobs. The sound of fighting, gunfire, and mage spells falling into place. Some of it is very familiar; some of it she doesn't recognise at all._

_ School. Chatting with Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan. Meeting Fate for the first time in single combat. Training with Raging Heart and enlisting into the TSAB officially, overtaking other rookies and soldiers as she ascended up the ranks quickly into SS-class. The accident that almost killed her. Scaglietti and his combat cyborgs that took Vivio away from her temporarily. _

_ More images following that are unfamiliar. Fighting. War. Friends falling all around her, her heart breaking apart. The images of Fate and Hayate turning coldly towards her as their eyes darken and their weapons lift towards her. Intent to kill as she defends herself. _

_ Is this the future? Or just another illusion?_

_ "Takamachi Nanoha," the child says, "if I were to make a contract with you, I would fulfil one of your wishes and grant you the full use of my powers. I ask you, what would you wish for?"_

_ "Wish?" Nanoha repeats, confused and intrigued by the nature of the question. "I...I wouldn't wish for anything. I'm happy already. I wouldn't want - " _

_ No. I'm not content at all. Because as long as I'm trapped here, Fate and Vivio aren't with me. And if anything happened to either of them...and what _could_ be happening..._

_ "I would wish for Vivio and Fate to be by my side forever," she says at last. "But why do you ask this? Who are you?"_

_ The child nods in satisfaction. "That was exactly what you wished for when you sealed your contract with me last time." _

_ It stops in the swirling corridor of time, turning to look up at Nanoha with Vivio's eyes, bringing the palm of its hand just in front of its face. _

_ "I am Oguba," it says in a voice of softest melancholy. "I was born from a dimensional distortion in the time-space continuum and sealed within a Lost Logia along with my powers. And a long time ago, Takamachi Nanoha, you contracted with me to save more than just your own life." It turned its face away, devoid of emotion. "I will lead you to my power in the real world, Takamachi Nanoha. Once you hold me in your arms...you will finally remember."_

_ The name unnerves her. She hadn't been expecting this._

"Oguba?!"_ Nanoha exclaims. "But that's impossible. Oguba is the name of a Lost Logia. How can you possibly be..."_

_ How could any of this be possible, indeed. And yet, something in her companion's voice sounds ever so familiar. As if she should already know this._

_ "I have so many questions," she says urgently._

_ "And I will answer them for you," comes the reply. "When you wake up. In a sense, we are both sleeping in a dreamless nightmare. But it is time for you revive me in your own world and hold me once more."_

_ Wake up? The images of her past, present and future swim past her in an ocean of memories. How am I supposed to wake up when I don't even know how I got here?_

_ "Yes," the voice of Oguba says softly as if reading her own thoughts. "It is time to wake up for the last time. **Now.**"_

* * *

Her eyes didn't open to dismiss the dream because they hadn't been closed in the first place. Instead, Nanoha felt the whirling mass of greyness at the edge of her vision fly into a frenzy as the child's touch on her arm brought the world into intense focus all at once. Colours blazed into focus. At first everything was dark, but as her eyes began to adapt...familiar sounds and noises caught her from all around.

She was back in the TSA. Shari's voice was calling something out to all mages on duty, perhaps special orders from Hayate. High alert? Was the TSA under attack again? In any case...

"Nanoha?"

It was Fate's voice, filled with anxiety and worry. The sound was close, very close, but try as she might, Nanoha couldn't make out any shapes or figures at all. Everything around her seemed to be very...grey-ish. There were colours too, but they seemed to shrink back into the background.

"Nanoha, where are you?" Fate cried, the sound of her boots rushing around the corridor resounding through the walls around her.

_I'm here!_ Nanoha wanted to tell her, but she still couldn't make out where she was. She could sense that she was somewhere in the Bureau. Not near the perimeter or even the hospital...it must be somewhere deeper inside...

_Do not worry,_ came a voice inside her head.

With a shock, Nanoha realised it was the voice of the time-traveller in her dream. The bear, the camel, the child...the one who claimed to be called Oguba. They were speaking to her telepathically.

_Go and greet her, _Oguba said silently. _You are trapped in the wall. Use my powers and move out into the open to see her._

I'm in the _wall?_ Nanoha was dumbfounded. How could she possibly be in the wall? People didn't just move through walls!

_You hold my power in your grasp, as per our contract of several years ago,_ Oguba continued almost ceaselessly. _You should know that standard solid materials are no barrier to those who harbour the highest potential of time-travel itself. Move through the wall. Now._

It still sounded crazy in her head, but Nanoha didn't think she had any other choice. She didn't _feel_ trapped in the wall. How had she got there in the first place anyway?

Taking a deep breath, she pushed forward into the dull greyness ahead of her and her entire body slid out through the walls of the TSA Engineering Division as if they weren't there. Light exploded from all angles, blinding her, but then faded quickly. The corridors and signs were familiar again once more.

She was in the inner laboratories where all the mage devices were held for research and development. That was one good thing that had happened so far; at least she knew where she was now. But Nanoha's other senses were also grabbing hold of the situation too. The whining alarm going off in the distance which meant that there was an intruder in the TSA, for instance. The fact that the entire division appeared to be deserted, as if all of the engineers had been urgently called off somewhere all at once.

Another thing was that she was still in her hospital gown. That fact made even less sense to Nanoha that anything else right now. As if she had just gotten out of her bed, left the hospital, and walked all the way over here. Yet Nanoha didn't remember doing anything of the sort.

Hesitantly, she stepped into the empty laboratory, not knowing why she did it. It was almost as if she felt a force pulling her towards it, guiding her to her next step. Not pushing her or forcing her against her will, but persuading her that this was the right course of action.

"Nanoha?"

She turned around to see Fate standing there, breathless yet relieved to see her. Nanoha reached forward to hug her, but at the same time detected an familiar sense of wariness emanating from her lover.

"Nanoha," Fate said cautiously, "is something wrong? Are you all right?"

_Are you all right?_

Somehow, the question didn't seem to Nanoha as if it meant what it usually did. The way Fate said it now was more to the point. More directed in...an outward way. As if there was something about Nanoha that unfazed her right now.

"What...what happened?" Nanoha whispered, ignoring the attracting force guiding her into the laboratories right now. "How did I get here? Have I...?"

"You don't remember?" The concern in Fate's face deepened further. "You walked here by yourself, Nanoha. You walked through...through the wall, somehow." She shivered. "You were chanting strange words and those runes were covering your body again..."

"Runes?" Nanoha repeated.

Fate nodded. "Yes. And they're still on you right now."

The brunette mage unfolded her hospital gown just enough to bare her left arm and shoulder. Blue letters adorned her flesh, illuminated in the bright light. The same letters that had marked her skin when she had touched the child in her dream...

Except now they were all over her body. They were dancing all the way down to her hip and beyond, across her arms and legs...she didn't have a mirror to check her face, but the look in Fate's eyes was enough.

_Oguba said that the markings were harmless. That they were only proof of the contract...whatever that meant. Should I trust him? I don't anything about him at all. But for the time being at least..._

"I think they're just writing," she said, trying to calm down the blonde mage. Nanoha smiled, not wanting to cause any further upset. "It's not a disease or anything. You won't catch it by touching me."

"How do you know that?" Fate sounded genuinely hurt. "Everytime they appear on your skin, you do something irrational. Shadows come out of your body. Your skin goes cold. You sleepwalk and walk through walls. You start to – to di - " Her voice choked off a sob; she couldn't say it. "How can you be so calm and - "

Oguba's voice was a buzz inside her head which filtered out Fate's words. _Forget about her,_ he said. _Go into the laboratories. It is time for you to receive my power in physical form, as I promised in our contract._

"Fate..." Nanoha didn't know how to calm her down. She wanted to hug her, but the symbols on her body seemed to be scaring the Enforcer away from her altogether. It wasn't fair. "Fate, please listen. I know you're frightened and confused. So have I, ever since I woke up. But I haven't changed on the inside." She took a step forward, her fingers closing over Fate's wrist impulsively. "I'm still your Nanoha, and I always will be."

Fate's lips brushed against hers for the barest second as she held her in her arms. Yet the look in her eyes showed that she still wasn't entirely convinced. Her gaze shot liquid anger onto the sight of the runes on Nanoha's skin. As if they were a barrier between them.

"I've been doing something in the last few days," Nanoha said to her, holding her eyes fixed against her own. "I've been communicating with someone who might be able to bring my memory back. They've been saying a lot of strange stuff, but they also say that the runes are harmless."

"Then they are lying," Fate retorted bitterly. "Since you seem to trust them more than me, why don't you show me who this person is?"

With a heavy heart, Nanoha turned her face away from hers and regained the pull on the attractive force from before. Pulling her towards the laboratory. She stepped inside, feeling the fierceness of her lover's suspicions on her back. She bore it and walked through the aisles of countless mage devices contained within the laboratories, not quite sure what she was looking for.

And then Nanoha saw it. A single red gem in a test-tube at the end of the row in front of her, where the newest additions to the department had been received.

_Raging Heart._

"What are you doing?" Fate asked, not without a level of coldness. "What do you intend to do?"

Nanoha reached out and lifted Raging Heart into her hand. As the jewel made contact with her skin, the blue runes melted away completely, disappearing into the night air once more. She turned her face to Fate, clean of any possible writings or contaminations at all.

"I have brought Oguba with me," she said. "The runes you saw were the mark of Oguba. And I'm going to make his power flow through Raging Heart so that I can fight again together with you, Fate."

* * *

The scene before them on the surveillance cameras in the control room was a familiar one, bringing with it a sense of _déja vu. _As before, the attackers were hideous mutations that were made up from several different beasts, differing in size, strength and ability from each to the other. And as before, it was quite obvious to see that they were a decoy. Even the low-level mages on guard were able to detect the huge scale of illusion magic employed here.

However, Hayate knew that this time the TSA had two key advantages over the enemy. Firstly, their opponent's forces were not concentrated all in one place like the assault on the vaults when one of the Lost Logia was stolen. The creatures were all spread out across the perimeter where mages and troops were already on active duty, allowing the Bureau to be able to take care of them easily. And still, a lot of them were illusions. As a result, Hayate didn't need to send the whole of the Bureau's troops to deal with it, because the perimeter guard was already doing a good enough job in repelling the invaders.

Their second advantage, of course, was that they had Nanoha with them this time, even though she may still be combat-incapable at the moment. And they had her, Hayate. The former commander of Riot Force 6 allowed a smile upon her face at the thought. Now was the time to strike back, although it still bewildered her as to why their adversaries were all over the place right now. Maybe something had gone wrong with them that they weren't aware with? Confusion with their loyalties, perhaps?

The screen flashed in front of her as the four forwards opened up channels with her. _Finally. _Hayate turned their attention to them at once; now they could put their plan into action.

"Subaru-san, Tiana-san, Caro-san, Erio-san," she greeted them all. "You're all here. I'm going to give you the details quickly, because there isn't much time. There's been an explosion at the hospital where Vita was held. Because all of the surveillance there has been wiped out, we think there's a possibility that one of our previous attackers is there. One of Srethis' allies, that is. We don't know why they would attack the hospital, but if we can capture them then they could be an important lead to us in the TSA's investigations into what's been going on.

"Secondly," she continued, "you probably know about the similar attack at the perimeter. It's a decoy, and the Bureau can easily take care of it on its own, but that still means that someone is directing the attack. And they could be nearby. If we can capture them too, then that would be a definite bonus for us."

Tiana's gaze was fierce. "The mutants from last time," she said, nodding knowingly. "A mixture of summons and illusions. It's the man from last time: Grylmark."

"I've already been detecting summoning magic," Caro confirmed. "But not as much of it as before. If Tia's right, then it sounds like more illusions than summons."

Hayate nodded. "And it shouldn't be as difficult as the first time. Here's the plan: I want two of you to investigate the incident at the hospital and arrest whoever's responsible. The other two of you need to find out who's directing the attack at the perimeter. Whether it's this Grylmark person or someone else, you are to do everything in your power to take them into custody."

Her blue eyes flicked towards the young summoner girl on the right screen. "Caro. I'm allocating you towards the second group. With Fried, you will be able to cover a wider area more efficiently and further your chances of locating the culprit. Besides, if it's the summoner from last time, then your own summon magic will be very useful in detecting them." The red-haired girl nodded in affirmation, her own orders clear. "I assume you want Erio to come with you too - "

"Hayate-san - " It was Tiana which spoke, moving forward with greater urgency. "I have a request. I would like to accompany Caro in the second group."

Surprise showed faintly in Subaru's eyes at this; apparently she had expected Tiana to want to fight alongside with her instead. "Tia?" the blue-haired mage said questioningly. "Are you...?"

"I fought Grylmark before," Tiana said determinedly. "And he escaped from me. I want a chance to settle the score."

Hayate hesitated, showing a moment of concern for the sharpshooter. "Are you sure? You had Subaru with you last time when you went to the vaults. You don't have any combined attacks with Caro, not like you do with Subaru, so you'd be at a disadvanta- "

The sharpshooter was having none of it. She shook her head stubbornly. "Please let me go with Caro in the second group, Hayate-san. Grylmark uses illusion and summoning magic. We should fight him in turn with an illusionist and summoner."

The commander of Riot Force 6 sighed. Once Tiana really set her mind on something, it could be extremely difficult to persuade her out of it. But this could be a life-or-death situation – if she let Tiana go and anything bad happened to her, then...

Hayate quickly re-evaluated the situation. The TSA wasn't in any real danger, after all. It was going to be different this time. She would have wanted to go personally, but her leadership was required back here in the control room. And besides, Fate and Nanoha has always trusted in Tiana's skills.

"All right," she said at last. "Tiana and Caro will go with the second group. Subaru and Erio, you will be in the first group investigating the disturbance at the hospital." Pairing Subaru with Erio. Hayate really hoped she wouldn't regret this. "Everything clear? Then move out!"

* * *

The two members of the Wolkenritter who were still standing up stood amidst the debris of what remained of Ward 4X. Somewhere behind them, Signum was still buried under a mound of stone and plaster. But neither of them could turn their backs on their enemy now. They had to keep their eyes front and make sure that neither of their opponents escaped from the Bureau. If Srethis escaped, they would have lost their only lead and would be back to square one.

Vita gave Graf Eisen a few practice swings around her to warm up her muscles. To her distress, the weapon seemed unnaturally...heavy. A lot heavier than normal, and unresponsive to her will. As if there was still something wrong with it. But now was not the time to worry about that.

"Vita," Shamal murmured to her, so that their opponent couldn't hear them, "I can only do defence and support magic for you, but it's the best I can do. The rest is up to you."

"That's fine," the red-haired mage replied. "But don't go out of your way to get yourself hurt, Shamal. There's still a hospital of people who need you alive." She stepped forward determinedly, wielding Graf Eisen in both hands tightly. "Ready?"

"Ready. _Commandment Chain__!"_

Multiple strands of energy shot towards Ungore to wrap tightly around the alien's limbs. The creature regarded them with interest but made no effort to break them. Shamal increased the pressure of the spell, and the alien grunted with faint exertion.

Vita was already moving, swinging Graf Eisen in a long circle from behind her, building up speed and potential force. Ungore made no attempt to dodge, watching her silently with a vague hint of amusement. Angrily, Vita brought the hammer round in a powerful uppercut which slammed upwards and slammed into the base of the alien's chin. Ungore's entire body was jolted off the floor as its head was smashed into the ceiling of the ward. Cracks spread out in all directions across the plaster with the impact.

For a moment, Vita hesitated, fearing that the rest of the upper floor was going to cave in on them again, but nothing further happened. She pulled Graf Eisen from Ungore's body as the alien slumped to the ground with a solid _thump._

Slowly, Ungore came to its feet again, shaking its head woozily. It flexed the three fingers on its active arm, breaking easily through Shamal's binding spell, and rubbed its chin painfully.

"Mmm," it mumbled. "That's not very good." Its eyes flicked open all at once. "_Hunzichille Prime__!"_

_ "__Wind Shield__!" _Shamal shouted.

The protection spell shot up a split second before Ungore's explosive attack made impact, shattering it in an instant and forcing its way through. But that was more than enough time for Vita to get out of the way, rolling around the edge of the dissolving barrier and smashing Graf Eisen's metal tip down onto the back of Ungore's head.

Lightning-fast, the alien twisted out of the way and gripped the side of the hammer, almost pulling it out of Vita's grip entirely. It let go suddenly and tossed it into the wall, along with Vita, hitting it hard. As Vita struggled to get up, Ungore moved towards her and shot its hand forward towards her throat -

"_Raketenform,"_ Graf Eisen echoed, responding to her will and sense of danger. It transformed swiftly in readiness to her own conscious intent. _"__Panzerhindernis__!"_

The magical barrier swept up at the alien and repelled it back a few feet. Surprise registered on Ungore's face, a new spell forming in its hand, words chanting and beginning to take shape -

"_Raketenhammer__!" _Vita screamed, whirling Graf Eisen's Missile Form around her head and smashing it down into Ungore's side. This time, real pain showed on the creature's face as a crack resounded across the side of its body, the impact sending it spinning into the other side of the wall and almost sending it through the other side.

Silently, Srethis watched from the corner, unnoticed for the time being, face raised towards Vita in what seemed to be admiration.

Vita sat in a low crouch over her weapon, breathing heavily as steam came off the hammer. That wasn't right. She shouldn't be worn out just from a medium-level attack like that. Either Shamal was right and she really hadn't recovered yet, or there was something really wrong with Graf Eisen...

She turned to Shamal with a victorious smile. Their opponent had been a tough nut to crack, but she'd finally gotten through to -

Soft footsteps echoed behind her and Vita turned around to see Ungore stepping out from the smoking crevice in the wall, rubbing its shoulder achingly. She couldn't believe this. It was still on its feet?

"Ow," Ungore complained.

_Great,_ Vita thought. _I guess I'm going to have to get serious then. And here I was hoping not to cripple Graf Eisen too much -_

She stopped when she saw the state Ungore was in. The alien's body had sustained minor wounds in general, but it was the arm on its side that made her stare. The limb had received the full brunt of her attack – and it was barely hanging onto the creature's shoulder at all. A few strands of skin and bone were all that connected it. The rest of it was simply destroyed.

"Are you _still_ going to fight me like that?" Vita said, appalled.

Ungore gave a wry chuckle and moved forward in a zombie-like manner. It looked like it was going to fall over with the next step.

"If you come any closer," Vita said, "I will be forced to put you down. Give it up. You're finished."

The alien shrugged, its feet shuffling forward.

_Well if that's the way you want it, _Vita thought, and unleashed _Raketenhammer _once more. Graf Eisen whirled around her head several times, screaming towards her opponent, its acceleration and power reaching maximum. It shot towards Ungore and hit the creature dead-on, forcing them back as -

This time, the impact hit Vita instead as Graf Eisen struck something a lot harder than just flesh and bone. Like hitting steel, or titanium. The force of it rang through her entire weapon, and she staggered back from the momentum.

_What the - ?_

And then she saw that her hammer had been parried by another weapon. A long staff-like weapon that Ungore held in its other hand, which was discoloured and bent, which ended in three fingers and...

_Is that its arm? Did it just parry my attack with its _arm?

No, there was no doubt of it. The steel-like weapon that Ungore had blocked Graf Eisen with was...its _other_ arm. The one which never moved or responded, and acted like it was broken. Except that...the arm in question was no longer connected to a shoulder.

_It just ripped its arm off and used it to block Graf Eisen's attack. How...how is that even..._

"Interesting, isn't it?" Ungore rasped, pushing forward the misshapen weapon in its hand and spinning it expertly. "My arm has been dead for many years, but that doesn't stop its usefulness!" It laughed madly. "Their faces! When they see it! Replacing bone with metal as it erodes, making the flesh harder as it connects into my body...until...there is nothing that can break it!"

"Are you crazy?" Vita spluttered. "Isn't that just a bit gross?"

The alien held up the arm-weapon above its head, magical energy flowing into it. Wicked spikes sprang from each end, whipping around the air, each with a life of its own.

_Uh-oh._

"Srethis, now is the time to make your escape," Ungore said. "I will kill this midget."

The reptile nodded, its scaly feet stepping towards the hole in the other wall.

"No!" Shamal said sharply, emerging from their opponents' blind side. "I won't let you. _Commandment Chain_ - "

Ungore flicked the end of its weapon towards her from a distance. A massive output of energy slammed into her, throwing the medical mage off her feet to land against the heap of rubble at the end of the room. Shamal groaned and lay still.

"Now for you," Ungore said, turning its gaze back towards Vita. It had seemed dead upon its feet just seconds ago, but with the appearance of its...arm...it seemed invigorated. Vita had a few theories of her own as to why that was, but the most likely was that their opponent had been faking it.

_ I need to finish this quickly, _Vita thought. _Before Srethis really does escape. It's all up to me now. Go to full power and just wipe out this clown who keeps pulling off their limbs._

_ "Gigantform,_" she intoned, raising Graf Eisen up to attack.

In response, there was a melodramatic lack of transformation. Vita waited patiently for another moment.

"Graf Eisen?" she hissed urgently. "Now is not the time to - "

_"Warnung," _her device said, crackling with static. _"Schwacher lesistung."_

Low power? How could she be low on power? Unless something had forcibly drained Graf Eisen to the point in which it could no longer function properly. Vita didn't think there could possibly be a worse time for this to happen.

"_Raketenform?_" she tried.

To her horror, Graf Eisen failed completely and shrunk down to its Standby Form, incapable of any combat whatsoever, down to the tiny little hammer hanging around her neck. She was defenceless and vulnerable once more. Dead meat.

Ungore raised its own weapon, its eyes flickering as it saw her powers disappear. There was nothing but malice, ill intent and a complete lack of mercy. It wasn't going to let her live by any means.

"_Hunzichille Beta Excelion__,"_ it whispered, and whipped its dead arm forward, spikes curving across the air as purple energy flowed around the length of the staff, sharpening it and transforming into razor-edged metal, slashing through the air towards Vita.

There was no avoiding it. Vita searched desperately for a means of escape, but there were none. The spikes and energy were overflowing around her from every angle, cutting through the air itself and forcing her into the corner as they came right towards her face to pierce her through and put an end to her for the last time -

And then the sound of feet moving, a blade curving across the air in front of her -

"_Purple Lightning Flash__!_"

The energy dissipated around her, spikes parried off the length of Laevatein's flaming blade. Vita blinked upon seeing the tall pink-haired swordswoman of the Wolkenritter standing in front of her in a defensive stance. Blue eyes locked with those of the alien which had almost put an end to Vita, burning with a fire within.

_Signum!_

"Are you okay, Vita?" the swordswoman said, not keeping her eyes off her opponent.

The red-haired mage took a deep breath, trying to will away the sense of death that almost claimed her just now. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

"Srethis is escaping," Signum said. "Go and stop them before they get too far. _I_ will take on this creature." She slowly rose to her feet, Laevatein's blade burning intensely. "Go, Vita. Now."


	14. Oguba's Revival

**If anyone doesn't remember Grylmark very well (because it's been a while since he was here, and it's been quite some time since I uploaded that chapter), feel free to flip back to Chapter 7. Hopefully things make slightly more sense by the end of this chapter, though.**

Across the formidable length and scale of the compound perimeter, TSA forces were concentrating on repelling the attacking mutants that had risen up against them from every outward point. There seemed no end to their numbers as more and more of the creatures reared up over the bodies of their companions, slain by the dozen with a few shots or a simple mage spell.

Although the Bureau's defending forces were just as spread out, the situation seemed far more to their advantage and morale was significantly increased with Hayate leading them. A lot of the attackers were illusions or simply clones, easily dispatched in one blow. They weren't even getting close to the wall, despite the horrific snarling mess of eyes, teeth and claws that confronted the mages on guard.

The dragon Fried ascended high into the air above the fighting as its two riders swiftly assessed the situation upon the battlefield. Caro's boost device, Kerykeion, had been glowing softly ever since the attack had begun some fifteen minutes ago, indicating the presence of active summon magic in the area close by.

There was no doubt in Tiana's mind about who was responsible for all of this. Although this time the mutants were no real threat, their numbers seemed near infinite. So they were being summoned constantly again and again, re-cloned and possibly made into illusions to attack the Bureau. In any case, the summoner would still require an incredible amount of stamina to keep up an onslaught like that of such magnitude.

"We need to find the summoner's location," she said. It was the only thing which kept the mutants from constantly coming back and renewing their attack. The rest of the TSA was forced to remain at their posts to defend against any sign of retaliation from the enemy, and thus unable to investigate the source of the summons. "Caro?"

The pink-haired girl nodded decisively. "I can direct Fried to follow where Kerykeion is giving off the strongest reaction." The nodes flowing down to her wrists and hands flashed sharply in response. "Fried. Follow my lead."

The dragon bowed its head and gave a piercing howl as it took them away towards the south-eastern border of the Bureau, away from the sounds of battle completely and heading in the direction of quieter skies. Caro concentrated for a few seconds, the pink light in the back of her hands a faint glimmer which grew gradually stronger as Fried ascended to roof-level. The roars of the monsters on the ground were filtered out by the whirling winds around them, until the atmosphere seemed almost tranquil.

Fried continued flying straight ahead from here for a few minutes, then decreased altitude slightly to land on the edge of one of the reinforced guard posts further out across the perimeter. It was currently unmanned and used mainly for communications and scout reports. With the appearance of the mutants, all soldiers here had been ordered to the main perimeter much further north.

"Here," Caro said softly, as Kerykeion's light blazed brightly across her hands.

Strangely, the place seemed to be deserted. There was no sign of life at all, which would be normal at this altitude, but there should still have been some indication of why it contained such large traces of summoning magic.

Frowning, Tiana dismounted and walked to the edge of the roof. The wind was fierce and icy at this height, streaking across her face and blowing her hair back unpleasantly. She chanced a look over the edge and immediately regretted it – the few people on the ground looked like ants from here. It was a _long_ way down.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the animalistic growls that came at once from out of the semi-mist around her. Slowly, three grotesque and misshapen creatures came stalking towards her from the edge of the roof, crimson predatory eyes all fixed on her.

"Tia!" Caro cried in alarm, moving Fried off the roof quickly to take action.

"It's all right, Caro," Tiana replied, barely glancing at the mutants approaching her, raising her weapon in her hand. "They're not going to hurt anyone."

Her gut instinct stirred up within her, and the sharpshooter turned to the right and fired Cross Mirage into seemingly empty air, nowhere near any of the creatures. Yet as the shot rang out, all three of her opponents shuddered and stopped moving immediately, before fizzling out into nothingness.

The mist in front of her began to part, revealing the familiar figure of an old man, hovering in the air before her. Snow-white clothes clothed him down to his feet, so that he didn't seem to be really there at all. His eyes were alive with the same concentrated fervour from their last encounter, however.

"Grylmark," Tiana whispered, not lowering Cross Mirage from his face. "I knew this was your doing."

The white-haired old man frowned. "You remember me, child?" he said with genuine astonishment. "I must admit that you surprise me. Usually people find it exceedingly easy to forget me. And..." A weathered smile, mixed with faint annoyance, appeared on his face. "The name is Grylmark the _Third._ I would trust that you would remember that for the remainder of your painfully short lives."

"What's the difference?" the sharpshooter said. Her hand tightened against the trigger of her gun easily. "Call off your summons. They're already being easily beaten by the TSA's forces."

"My creations?" Grylmark said, looking amused. "They will retreat soon enough. Why, child, surely you didn't think I intended them to attack _seriously?_"

Caro brought Fried closer next to Tiana, pushing forward into view to see the other summoner more clearly. "You were responsible for the attack on the vaults before, weren't you?" she said quaveringly. "Why is this attack so much weaker?"

The old man's eyes narrowed as his gaze flicked towards the pink-haired girl, recognising the magical power exuding from her.

"Another summoner, eh?" he said. "So that was how you were able to find me. Yet...another child, like yourself..."

"Answer her question," Tiana ordered. "This second attack is all illusion and hot air. We're beating your summons back easily. What's the reason for this?"

Grylmark shrugged, his eyes darting back to her as he smoothed down his robes. "You know how it is when you just decide to act on a whim, don't you? There just isn't enough time to prepare everything..."

Is that all? Tiana thought. He's doing this just because he _feels_ like it? Isn't there more to it than that? No, Hayate-san was quite convinced that it was an obvious decoy for whoever caused the explosion in the hospital. Maybe...maybe it's because for some reason, he isn't _able_ to -

"Tell us why you're doing this," she said. "The first time was to steal the Lost Logia, wasn't it?" She tried to read the man's face, to determine truths from lies, but it seemed impossible. "The Lost Logia known as Oguba."

A shrill chuckle came from Grylmark's throat, startling the pair of them. He bent double for a few seconds, trying to choke his laughter down. It was unnerving to see him do so at gunpoint.

"Oh, children," he said finally, panting, "it seems you have it all backward as usual. Why should we steal Oguba? Takamachi Nanoha is the one to bring Oguba _to_ you."

_What? _Tiana was thoroughly confused. _Is he saying that..._

"But didn't you try to kill Nanoha-san?" Caro asked. "What do you..."

"Oh, of course," Grylmark scoffed, shaking his head. "Not myself personally, you understand. But her past self had to die, for Oguba to exist in the present. And now that she _also_ exists in the present, as she should, then Oguba exists in every time. And Oguba's self-preservation is quite important, you understand."

The two girls stared at him in complete and utter incomprehension. Grylmark sighed.

"But, I should have known," he said. "After all, you two are only children. You should not be expected to understand any of this."

Tiana exchanged glances with Caro and shook her head in confusion. All this could wait. The important thing right now was to take Grylmark back with them, alive. From the sounds of it, the old man had vital information. He certainly knew a lot more about what was going on than Srethis did.

"You need to come back with us immediately," she said, fixing her mind back to business. "Grylmark, I am placing you under arrest for - "

"Grylmark the _Third,_" the old man tutted irritably.

" - the _Third_, then, for unlawful summoning within Bureau territory, conspiring to the act of mass-murder, conspiring for the murder of one of more TSA officials, criminal theft of a Lost Logia, illegal dealings with - "

"Now, now, let me interrupt you for a second," Grylmark said pleasantly. "Allow me to bring two important things to your attention, child. Firstly, you cannot prove that I did any of those things - "

"This is hardly the time to plead innocence," the sharpshooter said, a touch of annoyance staining her tone. "Depending on how much information you are willing to tell us, and how co-operative you are with the higher-ups at - "

Grylmark ignored her, waving her words away. "Secondly," he continued, "I hardly see how either of you children will be able to take me into custody."

The red-haired mage climbed back onto Fried's back with Caro as the dragon lowered itself down for her temporarily. Cross Mirage was still pointing right at the old man's forehead.

"Really?" she asked mildly, and fired at point-black range.

The bullet whistled through empty air as Grylmark vanished for a split second and re-appeared about an inch to the left, unharmed. Furiously, Tiana altered her aim and fired again with perfect aim. As before, Grylmark disappeared before the bullet could reach him and re-appeared a short distance away.

_Damn it._ She fired several times in succession, trying to hit him, but this time the old man simply waited until she had finished firing, before appearing again once more. As if reading her exact moves and thought pattern.

"As I was saying," Grylmark went on, continuing his disappearing act as the sharpshooter fired again and again at him with still no luck, "you are not able to touch me."

"Stop _doing_ that! Just stay in the same place!" She fired again a few more times, bending forward over Fried's neck angrily, and again the bullets went awry. "Why can't I hit you?!"

The old man appeared behind them on the other side of the building, looking rather bored. "I would love to tell you, child," he said sympathetically. "I genuinely would. But the time it would take for you to understand the intricacies of - "

She fired again with success. "Will you just _tell_ me?"

"It won't help you defeat me," the old man yawned. "But the reason you can't touch me, child, is because in this time era...I do not _exist._ Like your friend Takamachi Nanoha, for example, although that was strictly temporary. How can you have an impact on someone who doesn't exist? Can you hurt someone who isn't there? You cannot, can you?"

"What do you mean, you don't exist?" Caro asked, leaning forward from her position on Fried. "How can you still summon monsters to attack us?"

"Ah. Slight slip of the words there." Grylmark cleared his throat and drew himself up. "I suppose I mean to say that the _body_ you see me in now does not exist in this time era. That's putting it simply for you, child. But enough on why you fail so utterly in doing me bodily harm." He raised his robed hands to the sky above him. "I believe I should give you something to remember me by."

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Tiana cried, frustrated.

The old man ignored her and closed his eyes in an almost peaceful manner, magical power brewing from his fingertips. A triad of energy burst from his lean form in three directions, glowing purple, streaking black into the sky around him until it seemed to obscure his features completely.

_What's he doing? _Quickly, Tiana tried firing at Grylmark again now that he seemed to be concentrating on a spell, thinking that maybe she could hit him, but instead the bullets were absorbed completely by the energy circulating around him, and they disintegrated in an instant. Not fast enough...if she could only get closer to him and destroy his chances of teleporting away from them -

Grylmark's voice sounded all around them as he spoke, sounding unnaturally deep and animal-like. It didn't sound like the old man in front of them at all, but like one of the mutants down below in the battlefield.

_"Rage of a lion and wings of a devil, tail of a scorpion and terror of destruction. Transmogrify and release unto this world."_

Caro's boost device blazed the colour of blood as the words echoed on the wind. The reaction was undoubtedly towards summon magic, but on a whole different level.

_"__Devilspawn Summon: Lesser Manticore__."_

And out from the earth erupted a beast that rose as high as the building before them, monstrous claws that carved the air in front of them in a frenzy with a broad wingspan that enabled it to fly up into the air above them. A gigantic lion-like head moved towards them, displaying two rows of razor-sharp teeth more than capable of turning them into mincemeat in a single bite. It's torso was heavily muscled and the ground shook with its passing.

"Ta-da," Grylmark drawled.

Quickly, Caro flew Fried just out of reach of the Manticore's claws. It didn't help them much that they were riding on a dragon, because the summoned monster in front of them was roughly five times bigger. Using _Beast Flare_ on it would probably be a waste of energy.

"Isn't that the Manticore that attacked the vaults?" Tiana shouted, as Fried concentrated on staying out of reach of the fearsome claws.

"It is, isn't it?" the old man said proudly, floating in the air next to the monster. "You remember that too, child! I healed its wounds from before and fully restored it. Now, I would like to see you try to put me under arrest. This should be amusing."

_This shouldn't be too hard, _Tiana thought. _When the Manticore attacked the vaults, Subaru and I beat it in one hit. It's the same creature and we're in a more advantageous situation. If Caro and I combine our - _

She stopped when she realised that she and Caro didn't actually have any combination attacks. They'd never fought or trained together before, not like she had with Subaru or Fate or Nanoha. She remembered Hayate's caution to her before about not going with Subaru and cursed her own inadequacy.

"Okay, here's the plan," she said to Caro uneasily. "If you - "

There was a split second before Grylmark raised his arm high before them and the Manticore charged right at them with an inhuman roar.

There was no time to dodge or move out of the way at this angle. The Manticore smashed its claws down into Fried and grabbed hold of the dragon, burning its talons into him. Then with a muscular jerk of its arms it plunged the dragon – and both its riders – all the way into the ground far, far below, creating a medium-sized crater and leaving the scene in a smoking ruin in a hundred- metre radius.

* * *

Ten minutes ago, all three Velka Knights had been on their feet and fully prepared for combat. That was no longer the case, with one of their number out of action and another unable to transform. Signum was all too aware of this. The energy expended to slice her way out from underneath the rubble had not been considerable, but for a moment the tall swordswoman feared she might have been too late.

Now she stood shielding the defenceless Vita, wielding Laevatein in front of her against their mutual opponent. Srethis had already fled from the scene upon seeing that Ungore had the fight well in hand. It was essential that the reptile did not get far, and considering their skills in the art of stealth and infiltration, they might well be home-free by now. Right now, Signum was the only member of the Wolkenritter who was at full fighting capability. If there was anyone else helping Ungore out there, then this could all end badly.

"Vita," Signum said urgently, pushing forward with her weapon against what looked uncomfortably like Ungore's arm. "I'll distract our opponent. You concentrate on bringing Srethis back."

The other red-haired Velka Knight nodded quickly and sprang forward towards the nearest hole in the wall. There wasn't much of a wall left ever since the battle had started. Just an inch would make it -

Ungore narrowed its eyes, alarm registering, and whipped the remains of its mutilated arm forward as the staff rapidly sharpened into a lengthening metal spear. It punched through the air over Signum's shoulder and sliced into the brickwork just above Vita's ear as she struggled to make it through the opening.

_"__Impacted Radius__," _the alien chanted.

Purple-blue light flaked down the length of the spear and lashed out at all angles from every point of the weapon, ripping into the edges of the wall and clawing towards Signum and Vita. Quickly, Signum flipped her scabbard up to take the brunt of the blow, pushing back as the sheer force of the attack almost toppled her balance. Whiplike purple thorns had clawed at her Wolkenritter armour, drawing blood steadily. What kind of spells were these supposed to be?

"Vita!" she shouted over her shoulder, knowing that Vita hadn't transformed and might not have been able to avoid the attack. Had she made it out through the building all right?

A choked grunt in reply told her the answer to both questions. Signum understood: they needed more time. She didn't know why Vita couldn't transform anymore, but she just needed to keep Ungore busy. Would the rest of the Bureau have realised what was going on by now? Would they be sending reinforcements to help? If so -

She saw Ungore's eyes dart towards Vita's position and ran to intercept the creature quickly, slashing her sword ahead to bar its path. In a flash, Ungore's weapon shifted and changed into a whirling hammer which came down accurately on Laevatein's hilt, numbing her entire sword-arm and almost causing Signum to drop her weapon altogether. With a muttered curse, she ran after the alien into the open air.

As the walls of the doomed ward began to crumbled behind them, the two of them faced each other silently, each of them trying to read the others' intentions. A moment later, Vita climbed out through the wreckage of Ward 4X to stand next to Signum. Going after Srethis without being able to transform was evidently impossible against such an opponent.

"You two are no match for me," Ungore whispered, testily spinning its severed arm expertly in a circle with its remaining arm. "Srethis has escaped. And now..."

"And now," Signum interjected, "you have nowhere to hide. You're exposed in the middle of TSA territory. Your face and data have already been captured and relayed across our surveillance networks from the moment you stepped outside. And reinforcements are on their way right now to surround you. The same can be said of your friend Srethis."

She smiled with a confidence she did not quite feel, and when Signum detected the wave of panic that washed over Ungore's face at her words, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was bluffing. Although it was true that reinforcements were probably on their way, Srethis could transform and disguise itself easily and their chances of catching the lizard were dropping with every second they wasted here. And it was still unlikely that any useful data would be amassed at Ungore's appearance; not unless they had more concrete information.

_They came here to rescue Srethis, _Signum thought._ They must have had a rescue plan, an escape route. If I can fool Ungore into trying to escape right now, then I can find out exactly where they came from. And because Srethis would be trying to escape in the same way, we could trap _both_ of them and -_

"Very well," Ungore said, a low scowl discolouring its features, looking thoroughly disgusted. The spines and spikes sticking out from its torso retracted into its human-like figure as it laid its severed arm onto the ground for a moment. "It seems we are all low on _time._"

It twisted around the arm at a certain angle, and the whole thing began pulsing bright red, like a set of warning lights. Symbols and runes shot across the arm as Ungore gripped the opposite end tightly with its free arm. A moment later, the symbols began racing across the arm faster and faster, accelerating their motion.

_What is it doing? _Signum wondered. _Isn't it going to try and escape?_

"Just what are you doing with that?" she said irritably. "Put it down and surrende- "

Ungore's blood-red eyes glittered. "It's counting down the seconds."

_Seconds? Like a timer?_

"Like a bomb?" Vita said disbelievingly. "You're going to turn your arm into a bomb and blow yourself up with it? Do you really expect us to - "

The alien grinned as the symbols on the arm turned into solid blinding colour, and then wrenched it forward and threw it right at them.

_Uh-oh._

"_Watch out!"_

Signum and Vita both dived back into the ruins of Ward 4X as the severed arm spun in the air and impaled itself into the ground where they had been standing. It gave one intense beep and then exploded violently upwards at an angle, striking fixed points of the ceiling corners of the ward. The supporting wall above Signum caved in and would have buried her a second time if not for her quick reactions as she sliced her way through the plummeting stone with Laevatein.

Quickly, she manoeuvred out of the ward as the rest of the ceiling came down. The supporting brackets were still keeping the rest of the upper floor stable, at least. Slowly, she rejoined Vita outside the hospital, who was also luckily unhurt.

There was no sign of Ungore. They had used the explosion to cover their escape.

"Terrific," Vita said sourly. "Now we've lost both of them."

Signum shook her head. There was still hope yet. "Not on my watch. They're still in the middle of the compound and they can't have gotten far without being seen. Let's go, Vita."

* * *

The words of the Lost Logia filled Nanoha's head endlessly as she stood at the laboratory table, still holding Raging Heart. The orb was pulsing strongly for the first time in a while, having been completely unresponsive ever since it had been admitted to the lab for maintenance. Nanoha felt Raging Heart's will tugging at her, too – it was reacting directly to Oguba.

"Oguba," she whispered, her hand brushing against Fate's skin next to her.

The runes stirred to life and climbed to the surface of her body as she caught the blonde mage in a comforting hug, whose eyes were still half-filled with worry along with a desire to stay at her side. Nanoha felt half-formed images and distant echoes flash through her mind, triggered by the combination of Oguba's presence and her closeness to Fate. She could _feel_ it inside her.

_Good, _Oguba said quietly in her mind, unseen yet undoubtedly present in the air around them. _Your lover's relationship to our contract will serve as a catalyst for my reformation in your current time era. Keep her close by. _

Her brunette head nodded onto Fate's shoulder, the crook of her chin pressing against the back of the other woman's shoulder.

Fate's eyes opened partway and latched onto hers. "Nanoha?" she questioned, her face a mask of hurt."What's going on?"

_Prepare yourself, _came Oguba's voice, clear and swift in her ears._ I am about to revive you. _Nanohawasn't entirely sure what he meant by that, but it wasn't going to be anything pretty. She braced herself as best as she could, putting her trust in the guiding words of the ancient Lost Logia, and the safety of her body in the hands of the one she loved, held in her arms right now.

"Hang on to me," she said in a hushed voice just moments before the runes rose out of her skin altogether for the last time, and stars exploded in the side of her head...

* * *

_The scene changed. She was looking down at the body of a young teenage girl lying motionless on a hospital bed, surrounded by tubes and monitors and breathing apparatus. A girl with brunette pigtails and nostalgic loose-fitting clothes. Her chest moved up and down very slightly as she struggled to breathe, struggled to continue on living. She was close to death, that much was apparent._

_ Nanoha stared down at the girl, knowing exactly what was so familiar about the scene. The girl was her, several years ago. The hospital...this must have been just after that fateful accident so long ago. She couldn't see much beyond that, as the blue runes etching out the mark of Oguba swirled in front of her. She had to look at the scene through them, and all she could see was a young version of herself which was about to die._

_ At the same time, she was somewhere else completely. She was in the future – or at least, further on in her life. Just a few days ago, when she and Fate had gone to confront Srethis in Hayate's office at the time of the first attack. When the world had seemed to cave in at all sides, how despair and fear had swallowed her up from inside, and it seemed like she had disappeared completely..._

_ She wasn't switching between the past and the present. No, it was different than that. Nanoha felt almost as if she was there at the _same time. _But that shouldn't be possible._

_ "It is possible," said the young child next to her, stepping out of the haze of alien symbols whirling through the air, and Nanoha turned to see Oguba himself standing next to her to watch the scene too. "I will tell you something: every normal living thing in the universe will follow the flow of time, without fail. It is in their nature. And from how humans perceive it, everybody has three fixed "versions" of themselves. Past. Present. And future. _

_ "Usually, people can only see one of these states in time," he said. "The present. But with my power you will be able to see all versions of yourselves, and manipulate them as you will. You must be very careful, however. What you do to one version of yourself will have a huge impact on every other version that exists after that point in time."_

_ If that's true, why can't I see my future self as well? Nanoha wanted to ask. But part of her wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer. She was worried about something else too – the way Oguba was describing it, his abilities of time-travel did not sound like anything that she would have wanted to be connected with. The only reason why she might have wanted to make a contract with him would be if...if there had been no other choice..._

_ She felt the presence of someone else in the hospital scene that unfolded before them. Frantically, Nanoha pressed forward to try and glimpse their face, but her vision turned hazy as she tried to focus through the runes. She couldn't see them._

_ Whoever they were, a metal hand was descending towards the young Nanoha on the bed, removing the tubes from her body that were the only thing keeping her alive. Killing her._

_ "Who's that?" she cried desperately. "They're going to kill her – me - "_

_ "They do, as you know," Oguba said calmly. "You are watching something that has already happened in the past. There is nothing you can do to change it – at least, not until after you revive my powers completely in reality. How you use my abilities is entirely up to you at that point."_

_ It didn't take long for life to depart the young Nanoha on the bed. Less than a minute after the unknown killer had done their job, Nanoha was staring at her own corpse. It provoked a sick, empty feeling to stir in her stomach. Srethis' initial claims that she had died in the past had now been proved to her without a doubt. It didn't explain why she was alive now, however..._

_ The runes suddenly moved forward without warning, beckoning Nanoha to follow them. Nervously, she did so as the scene changed again, slightly distorted in places. It seemed very similar to what she had just watched...except..._

_ ...except that the young Nanoha was now sitting up on the bed, a greyish tint marking her face. Alive. And she wasn't alone, because a child was sitting next to her._

_ Oguba._

_ Another Oguba in the past? _

_ "Takamachi Nanoha," the past Oguba was saying to the young Nanoha on the bed. "My name is Oguba. I am a Lost Logia, watching the flow of time. I have come to lend you my powers."_

_ "Your powers?" the young Nanoha said, her eyes wide. "I don't understand. I'm - "_

_ A sudden rush of pain came over her face, and her mouth opened wide in a silent scream. Watching the scene, Nanona herself understood the same emotion. It wasn't what she was feeling in the past...but what she was feeling in the _present_..._

_ When she had been erased out of time, and felt as if she had lost Fate and Vivio forever..._

_ "I'm...I'm dead?" the past Nanoha stammered, confusion and terror all too self-evident. "Fate and Vivio...but...how can..."_

_ It doesn't add up, Nanoha thought. In the past, she must have been experiencing memories about Vivio and having died...memories which were from her own _future._ But how could that be possible? Had Oguba given her that information herself? Wouldn't that create another paradox of its own?_

_ "I can help you," the past Oguba soothed her softly. "My powers of time-travel will allow you to live again. All you have to do is make a contract with me."_

_ "Contract...?"_

_ "Yes, Takamachi Nanoha," the child on the bed continued urgently. "To bind our agreement and make it reality. You would not have died. You will have the power to make everything in the future as if it never happened. All that I ask of you is one wish, one wish that you want me to fulfil."_

_ "One wish?" the teenage girl on the bed said tearfully. "Then I...I wish to..."_

_ Her face wasn't that of the past anymore, Nanoha realised. Because of what happened in the future, and the sheer emotion of the memories that were being emptied into her...she was thinking in the future. As if she really _was_ the future Nanoha, who lived happily with Fate and their daughter. Nanoha recognised the panic in her eyes. She'd seen the same kind of thing in Fate's eyes when she herself had woken up on her own._

_ "I wish to wake up with Vivio by my side," the young girl whispered. "I wish to fulfil the promise that I made to her on that day, that I would be there for her."_

_ The past Oguba nodded. _

_ "Granted," he said simply, and laid a single finger on the young Nanoha's skin._

_ Runes branched out across the girl's skin immediately, soaring across the length of her body. The mark of Oguba, sealing the contract. Turquoise magical energy wrapped around her in a tornado of light, lifting her body up off the floor slightly. The past Oguba murmured words that could not be heard, an alien tongue that was incomprehensible, energy flowing from his own youthful body and into the young Nanoha. His chanting continued, filling the room with its sounds as the runes blazed brighter and slowly disappeared into the girl's skin altogether._

_ Nanoha, still watching the scene with baited breath, felt a touch against her clothes, and was snapped out of her reverie by the child standing next to her._

_ "It's time," said the Oguba standing next to her, as the runes in front of her began to disappear, the scene slowly receding from her completely. "I think you've seen enough. Now - "_

* * *

The world snapped back into focus in Nanoha's eyes. It felt like a slap in the face. Her muscles had gone rigid from her experience, her arms still held tightly around Fate in a frozen embrace. Self-conscious of what was going on – how long had she been standing here? Had any time passed at all? - she quickly released the blonde mage.

But then when Fate looked at her, it was with a curious new light.

"You made a contract with Oguba in the past?" the Enforcer said in quiet puzzlement. "For me and Vivio?"

_She saw it all? _Nanoha thought, her mind numb. But of course. Oguba had mentioned that having Fate close to her would be directly connected to bringing everything back. Nanoha had wondered why, but now she understood. _Because my feelings for her and Vivio were at the centre of it all._

"I-I'm sorry..." she murmured, not knowing what to say. "I felt like I was going to lose both of you."

Fate smiled and kissed her on the lips, a bittersweet taste in her mouth. "You don't have to apologise, Nanoha. It wasn't your fault. I understand why you did it."

But what if I regret this? Nanoha thought. Some of this just feels...forced. I didn't really have a choice. My past self was just thrust into accepting Oguba's powers because of something that happened _now._ Somehow this doesn't feel...right...

She'd thought that recovering her memory might have made her feel better. But it didn't. They were better-equipped with such knowledge, but somehow she just felt caged in at all sides. Why would Oguba help her? He was a Lost Logia. There was no reason why...

"Nanoha."

The sound of Fate's voice against her ear jarred out of her thoughts once more. But then she saw that the blonde mage was staring at her left hand questioningly. And now Nanoha saw that there was something in that hand – something that hadn't been there before. She was clutching an object giving off a faint turquoise glow, the same kind of glow she had seen in her past memories. Her heart racing, Nanoha slowly opened her right hand.

And in the palm of that hand, a strange rotating cylindrical object was revealed. It was made out of a metallic alien-like material that neither of them had ever seen before, a triple helix turning endlessly inside itself and brimming with contained energy. A glass-like hemisphere was formed over its curved edges, in which flakes of sand fell like rain within.

Across the blunt edges of the object, one word repeated continuously. The same word which had been written in strange blue runes on her skin. The mark of Oguba.

_This is Oguba, _Nanoha realised. _The Lost Logia. This must have been what Oguba meant by his "revival". His entrance into the real world. And it could only happen after I had recovered my memories._

In her other hand she still held Raging Heart tightly. But as she moved the Lost Logia closer to the device, Nanoha felt the two of them pulsate strongly together, as if they were drawn together. As if this was what had been meant to happen all along.


	15. Escape

At the edge of the south-eastern border, smoke and ashes rose up from the crater in which the remains of the dragon Friedrich lay, along with its rider. The only sound to be heard was the still breathing of the Manticore, predatory eyes scanning the ground for survivors. There was no sign of movement, however, and the creature began to slowly turn away from the ruins . Grylmark smiled at the outcome. It had been a very short battle, but a necessary one. It could be potentially harmful for such people, children though they were, to continue to challenge him.

Now that the two girls were taken care of, he could concentrate on increasing the attack on the perimeter. Ungore and Srethis would be able to escape with his added support, and then -

"Stop right there!"

Grylmark frowned and turned back towards the guard tower. The white dragon was still lying defeated all the way below at ground level. There was no possibility that any of its riders could have survived the fall.

A solitary figure was hanging from a grapple hook at the side of the guard tower, her face battered and bruised by the impact. Fiercely, Tiana turned herself around as best as she could to face the old man from her precarious position. She had been lucky – with Cross Mirage out in her hand from trying to hit Grylmark with her shots, she had been able to fire a Grapple Hook out to latch onto the side of the building as Fried went down.

She tried not to think about Fried and Caro right now, or about the fact that there was no way for her to pull herself up from here. The gun in her other hand was pointed squarely at Grylmark as the old man gazed at her in wonder, floating dozens of metres above the ground. The Manticore growled deep in its throat and fixed its beastly gaze upon her, poised to attack.

"This is another surprise," Grylmark commented with interest. "What is your name, child?"

The sharpshooter fought to remain calm. A single thread was all that was preventing her from falling nearly a hundred metres to the ragged ground to her death. With Caro and Fried out of commission, she was on her own. There were no handholds or ledges on this side of the tower, and no way for her to climb up. She could disengage the grapple hook and try to hope that it caught onto somewhere else, but...

"Tiana Lanster," she said. "Sharpshooter of the Time-Space Administration."

_I should have listened to Hayate-san. I should have come here with Subaru instead of Caro. I've always been at my best with Subaru...at least here we could have used Wing Road and -_

Grylmark watched for her a few seconds more, his face expressionless.

"I shall remember your name, child," he said at last. "Think of it as a service for remembering my own." He raised his hands forth. "I will add it to the list of the deceased."

He wasn't going to be one of those opponents that left you alive when they saw you were defeated. If Tiana had hoped for that kind of response, those hopes were quickly dashed when she saw the Manticore come forward, a monstrous roar echoing from its maw as it reared upwards to tear her to pieces. No, he was going to finish her right here and now whilst he had the chance.

_Think. If I stay here, I can't move and my bullets aren't going to have any effect on Grylmark. They probably won't hurt the Manticore much either. So I need to disengage the grapple hook quickly and hook it onto another part of the tower. _

But if that didn't work...if she couldn't get it to catch on anything, then she was dead. There wasn't sufficient leverage for her to try to aim for the top of the tower either, so she couldn't get back to the roof.

_What if...what if I try to hook it onto the _Manticore_ itself? Just as it starts to attack?_

No, that was impossible too. She had seen how fast the creature moved when Fried had been incapacitated, even considering its huge size. Tiana didn't think she could possibly move faster than the Manticore could. Maybe she could just hope that it missed? No...

Nanoha's face came into her head at that point, and Tiana stopped dead for a moment, remembering the words of every training session and mock battle that the Ace of Aces had taught her. _Don't be reckless, Tia. Don't try to be a hero. Just remember what I've taught you._

Yes, but there was a difference in being reckless and taking a chance when the alternative was getting your brains dashed out on the ground below. Tiana racked her brains for another plan. What advantages did she have?...

_Advantages? Yes. Size. The Manticore's nearly the size of this building. I must look like an ant to it. Maybe I can use that against it. If I'm small enough for it not to be able to hit me, then maybe I can dodge it and use the Grapple Hook onto its claws. And then..._

Was she mad? Manoeuvring her way _onto _the Manticore? Wouldn't that just make her chances of survival _worse?_ But if it was the only way out of her current predicament...

Abruptly, she felt the Manticore's breath on the back of her mind as it drew closer to her. She was out of time. Whatever she did, she had to act _now._ The Manticore was close, close enough to -

Tiana's heart caught in her throat as she realised that the Manticore was also close enough to ensure that, despite their relative sizes, it wasn't going to miss. Its claws were big enough to engulf the entire side of the building. Dodging it wasn't even an option anymore.

"_Sayonara,_ Tiana Lanster," Grylmark said as the Manticore's claws descended towards her.

She felt death closing in on her as the other gun in her hand fired, fired at the underside of the claws rushing to rip her limb from limb. Bullets slammed into the tough flesh and punctured tiny holes in the skin which were like pinpricks to the monster. The Manticore kept coming, and the sky went dark around Tiana -

An explosion of rosary magical energy shot upwards towards the sky between Tiana and the claws coming to end her life. It came from the ground below. For a moment the Manticore ignored it and came through the magic field quickly, but then the rosary glow expanded and grew as more and more power was fed into it. The claws were forced back as the Manticore roared in frustration at this new interference.

Bewildered, Tiana could only flatten herself against the side of the building as the energy shot up into the clouds and began to take form. What was thi-

_"Dragon Mount Summon," _came Caro's voice from far below, in a crippled ruin on the ground as the magic field roared into a frenzy around her, _"VOLTAIRE!"_

The world was a roar in Tiana's ears as blazing walls of fire shot up across the circumference of the magic circle before her. She drew back from the flames as best as she could, but the heat was almost overpowering. The Manticore's eyes narrowed as it struggled to force its way through the barrier, hissing angrily as the inferno kept it at bay.

And then Voltaire, the Black Fire Dragon, emerged out of the raging firestorm to block the Manticore's path. The blackness of its skin across the length of its body was marred only by the crimson markings which ran up its upper torso, ending at the tips of its shoulders and just below its jaw. Its size was truly colossal, reaching up almost as tall as the Manticore itself, and twin cannons of magical energy charged in each of its shoulders. Four wings in total spread out across its back, all as black as night itself, extending fully as the summoning fire began to die down.

Twin horns rose on each side of its head, and Voltaire's eyes burned with an inner fire as it turned towards the enemy. The Manticore roared as it sighted the dragon, the inferno all but extinguished as Caro finished the summoning, and charged.

Voltaire's eyes narrowed as it caught the Manticore's claws within its own powerful fists, its muscles rippling as it blocked the monster's attack. Then the Black Fire Dragon let loose with two powerful blasts from its shoulder cannons, blowing its opponent backward several metres. The Manticore screamed and crawled on all fours to its feet, steeling itself.

Numbly, Tiana caught sight of Grylmark's expression at this new development. He looked panicky, at a loss at what to do. Evidently he had not expected things to happen like this.

Caro was screaming something from the ground, maybe incantations to aid Voltaire, but they were lost as the dragon reached down and seized the wounded Manticore in both hands by the throat and waist, lifted it high above its head and then smashed it into the ground. The ground shuddered and was cracked asunder by the impact, bones crunching behind the attack.

Shattered, the Manticore struggled to regain its footing. A stream of dragonfire ensued from its opponent's mouth, burning its flesh black as it clawed at empty air. Livid, the sounds it made were rattled and choked within its throat. It flapped its wings desperately to gain altitude, perhaps to escape.

Beside it, Grylmark's face was chalk-white, as if the pounding that the creature was taking was also affecting him. His body seemed to fizzle and crackle like a hologram, until it as if he was no longer there at all. Electric sparks shot around his face and hair, until he looked truly dazed.

This is my chance, Tiana thought, and released the grapple hook entirely.

She shot out Cross Mirage a second time as she fell, catching onto Voltaire's shoulder. She only hoped the dragon didn't throw her off. At this altitude, Grylmark was within range. The old man looked drained, no longer as confident as he had five minutes ago.

Tiana used the grapple hook to pull her onto the dragon's shoulder herself, and brought both guns up. She fired, fired again and again, her shots striking true through Grylmark's chest and arms. He looked too weak to teleport away or dodge, the bullets hitting him as his body shuddered with each hit. His clothes were soaked red as his eyes turned empty...and he began to fall.

Quickly, Tiana fired the Grapple Hook out once again onto Voltaire's wings. She had to get off the dragon quickly before its battle with the Manticore threw her off. The Black Fire Dragon was beginning to leave the ground now, ready to deliver the finishing blow, and Tiana managed to get the Grapple Hook around its left ankle.

She felt the tension at the end of the line paralyse her with its force for a moment, and then released it for the last time, falling the rest of the way to the ground by about a metre. She rolled as she hit the ground, tucking her knees in to absorb the damage and protecting her head as Nanoha had taught her.

_This is why I need to learn how to fly,_ Tiana thought darkly as pain shot across her arms and legs, bringing Cross Mirage up and trying to see where Grylmark was.

Above her, Voltaire had gained the peak of its altitude. It brought its fists together, the knuckles of its black claws clenching and hardening together. Then it shot down in a vicious nose-dive towards the fallen Manticore, hitting the creature's chest with a double taloned punch. There was a crack as several bones of its ribcage broke under the attack, and forcing the Manticore's body even harder into the ground.

Tiana whirled around as Grylmark's body hit the ground with a _crunch._

He shuddered and changed as his weathered eyes searched desperately, and as the sharpshooter looked on, the old man's body began to grow younger, more youthful. His years rapidly began to decrease. His hair turned a pleasant copper, his arms became more powerful and those of an able-bodied man, the crook of his shoulders disappeared completely...

Yet he kept going even after that. He became shorter, smaller, his face becoming rounder and somewhat gentler. Grylmark gasped for breath as the change finally slowed to a stop, climbing out onto the reddened soil.

It was as if his entire body had gone back in time. What Tiana was looking at was a young boy, not any older than Erio. A Grylmark in his very early youth.

Still panting, the young Grylmark staggered forward and murmured an incantation, not even looking at Tiana. Before she could do anything, the air had swallowed him up again. There wasn't a doorway or a portal of any kind – his body simply flickered and disappeared.

Moments later, the shattered body of the Manticore also vanished.

Exhausted, Tiana collapsed on the ground in front of her as Cross Mirage returned to Standby Mode. She'd survived. She hadn't managed to capture Grylmark, but she had beaten him and survived. And the new information she'd gotten from Grylmark was exactly what Nanoha needed to know about as soon as possible. That is, as soon as her body felt like moving again.

* * *

Vita and Signum raced across the path leading north from the hospital, following the faint trace of magic that Ungore had left in its wake. The trail was deserted and strangely empty of any Bureau soldiers or guards who would usually be here; that would explain why they hadn't managed to catch up to their opponents yet. Srethis was adept at stealth and infiltration, of course, and would probably be able to deal with any such obstructions. And they had both seen how fast Ungore could go.

Unable to transform anymore, Vita was struggling to keep up with the taller Velka Knight, but refused to show that the weakness was affecting her. Even Signum couldn't take Ungore and Srethis in by herself; Vita needed to be here. Still, she felt tense that any moment now the pink-haired mage would tell her that she would be better off helping Shamal back in the hospital.

_My first day out of hospital, and what happens? I accidentally help one of our enemies, get attacked by an alien who blows up half the hospital, and now I can't transform or fight. This is not going to be one of those better days._

To tell the truth, Vita could barely detect Ungore's trail of magic at all. She felt like she was just following Signum. Days taken sick on such a ridiculous illness had dampened her normal reflexes when she could have been training to regain her strength. It frustrated her to no end, but at least she was still out here where the action was.

Abruptly, Signum came to a halt as they reached a wide clearing normally used for training new recruits entering the TSA. Again, it was mostly deserted.

"The trail stops here," the Velka Knight said, frowning. "They've got to be around here somewhere. Keep a lookout, Vita."

They both scanned the area thoroughly from their present position. No, there was no sign of any life at all as far as either of them could see. It was like their opponents had simply vanished into thin air. Yet Vita had a feeling that that wasn't the case. Ungore had come to rescue Srethis – stepped out of a portal into the ward where the lizard was being kept. If they were able to exit the same way, then why had they not escaped back in the hospital, instead of fighting to gain time?

"If they're still here," Vita said in a low voice, "we're going to need some back-up. I don't have my communicator on me in these moronic hospital clothes. You need to send word to Hayate-san."

Signum nodded. "If I know Hayate-san at all, she'll have sent someone to help already." Nevertheless, she reached up to open channels to the control room, whilst keeping her eyes peeled. If she could just -

"Vita! You're alive!"

The cry came from a lone figure across the field, rushing towards them. For a moment the Velka Knights froze, and then saw with added confusion that it was Hayate herself. Surprised, the two of them quickly made haste to meet up with her. There was no doubt about it – it was the former leader of Riot Force 6, in full military uniform. She seemed a little winded but was otherwise all right.

"Hayate-san?" Signum said, surprised to see the short-haired mage so far out from the inner departments. "You...you came out all the way here?"

"Of course," Hayate replied with a smile. "We saw what's going on. Reinforcements are already on their way to back you and Vita up. There is nothing more for you to worry about. Go back to the hospital and leave the rest to us – we won't let those two escape."

The two Velka Knights exchanged glances. Something was very strange about the way Hayate had just turned up out of the blue, especially in the way that she was speaking. And she had arrived greeting Vita...not Signum. As if she only knew who Vita was. There was something very wrong here.

"Hayate-san?" Vita said worriedly. "Is everything all right?"

Honest blue eyes gazed into her own, forcing her doubts away. "Vita," Hayate said gently, "everything is fine. All you need to do is go back to the hospital and stay out of the way. You will both be safer there."

"You want us to go back to the hospital," Signum said slowly, irritation muddying her tone.

"Yes. Quickly," the short-haired mage said with the faintest air of impatience. "The situation is under control. We just need you to go back and stay out of this."

For a moment, the taller Velka Knight locked her gaze with that of her superior, reading every inch of her face for the barest sign of suspicion. Not a single muscle twitched or moved out of line. Instead, Hayate just gazed back innocently as if her scrutiny were the most natural thing in the world. Signum took a half-step forward, staring her down, watching for the barest hair out of place. But nothing revealed itself. It was Hayate.

"Very well," Signum said carefully. "Then we will both go back to the hospital, by your orders, Hayate-san."

"Excellent," Hayate replied, her face betraying nothing.

The two Velka Knights turned around as if to head back the way they came. Vita glanced nervously to where Hayate was standing, unsure of what exactly was going on. Why would Hayate come all the way here just to...?

"Keep your eyes on her," Signum said sharply under her breath, so that only the red-haired girl could hear. "I'm just going to check something."

Calmly, the swordswoman opened the channels on her communicator to link into the main control room, and listened for a few seconds. A buzz of activity sounded on the other end, of orders being carried out across the compound, Shari's recognisable voice issuing reports on the current situation surrounding the TSA, and...one other _very_ familiar voice.

Satisfied, Signum turned around again with a brief smile.

"Hayate-san," she said, "you _are_ Hayate-san, aren't you?"

The former leader of Riot Force 6 raised an eyebrow and smiled good-naturedly. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

"Because," Signum said testily, "my communicator link says that there is _another_ Hayate-san in the control room."

The Hayate in front of them seemed totally unabashed upon hearing this, taking it in her stride. "Then obviously they are an imposter. You should not be deceived so easily."

"True." The Velka Knight tightened her hand around Laevatein's hilt. "And what would you say, Hayate-san, if I were to ask you about yourself?"

"Myself?" the short-haired mage frowned. "Why, Srethis could not tell you about itself, when Srethis is Hayate-san who - "

She clamped her hands over her mouth as Signum swung her sword forward to attack the reptile, human skin darkening and turning green even as she moved. There was a rush of air and Laevatein's blade clashed against hard steel as Ungore darted to shield the creature, shifting its disfigured arm to force the Velka Knight off balance. Hissing to itself, Srethis backed away, Hayate's features disappearing completely as it writhed behind its companion.

Quickly, Vita moved out of the way as Signum and Ungore fought furiously, their blades whirling in a maze of colour. The alien was attempting to gain the upper hand with one of its explosive spells, but Signum was no longer giving it the chance, pressing forward with renewed vigour and keeping all Ungore's attention on protecting its guard. Even with one arm, the alien was doing a good job at keeping itself protected at all sides.

I can't transform, so I can't help Signum right now, Vita thought. And until reinforcements arrive...there's probably one thing I can do.

Hoping that Srethis was too weak to do her much damage in its crippled state, she skirted around Ungore's side and tackled the reptile to the ground. Srethis' eyes widened in surprise and it aimed a savage kick at her head which she managed to avoid. A claw whipped up towards her face, but there was energy behind it and Vita caught the fist in her hand. She moved her other hand to the side and chopped at Srethis with the side of it, felling the creature.

Ungore's eyes darted to the lizard as it went down, giving Signum the opening she needed. Her sword blazing with fire upon its length, she thrust Laevatein forward towards Ungore's chest. Desperately, the alien threw its arm up to cast a protection spell as Signum came through the ward and threw Ungore off its feet completely.

_Got you, _Vita thought triumphantly, coming forward.

And then the tables turned as a bellowing mass of black energy surged out of the clearing behind them, and a powerful vortex emerged out of the air towards their opponents...a portal in time itself, reaching out towards Srethis and Ungore as they slowly came to their feet, recognising the source...

A dark-haired girl in long black robes stepped out of the portal, brushing her clothes off as she flung a distasteful look at the reptile and the alien struggling towards the gateway.

"Exoria," Ungore spat, clutching its chest where Signum had grazed it. "I didn't need any help."

Hate flashed in the girl's eyes at the creature's response. It was clear from her expression that she was not here of her own free will.

"I want you to know that the _only_ reason I'm doing this," she said vehemently, "is so that you don't get any false illusions about you being better than me. You have no skill as a Time Mage, Ungore."

"Save it," the alien retorted as it stalked towards the portal, its features beginning to thin out and disappear. "Let's just get out of here."

Signum started to run forward with a yell, but it was too late – Ungore had already gone through the portal. Their only new lead was gone. Which meant that they needed to stop Srethis going through at all costs – or at least try to capture this new enemy, this girl who had appeared so suddenly to save her companions. But her fight with Ungore had carried her too far away from where the portal was right now – she might not be able to get there in time...

"Vita, you're closer to Srethis!" she shouted. "Stop that lizard from going through at all costs! I'll try to take the girl!"

The red-haired mage ran forward and tackled Srethis from behind as the creature limped towards the gateway. It hissed and spat, trying to throw Vita off, rising to its feet with the Velka Knight clinging to its back. The lizard strained to reach the portal, one step at a time, painstakingly slowly as Vita struggled to wrench it back.

On the other side, Exoria narrowed her eyes as Signum charged at her, cleaving the air before her. She leaped backwards with ease and disappeared through the gateway.

Without her magic to support it any longer, the portal began to rapidly close before them.

Srethis shrieked in dismay and forced its way through with all the energy it could muster, Vita still trying to pull it back. With one powerful thrust of its muscles, the lizard slipped through the portal...bringing Vita through with it. A split second later, the portal had close completely, leaving behind nothing but the emptiness of the shrill wind.

"_Vita!"_ Signum cried, her weapon dropping from her hands as she grasped at nothingness. The portal had closed up completely, taking their enemies away...and Vita with them...

_Vita._

Wherever their opponents had gone to, Vita had been taken away with them. Unable to transform. Defenceless. Alone. Signum didn't want to think about what was going to happen to her. They'd lost Srethis, they'd failed to capture Ungore, and now...and now they'd lost Vita. In a way, Signum felt like she was responsible. She had told Vita to take care of Srethis, and now both of them were lost.

If Signum's gut instinct was anything to trust herself by, then it was saying right now that considering the kind of opponents that Ungore and Srethis were...they would probably waste no time in killing Vita when they found her.

Swallowing, she opened up her communicator, bracing herself to give Hayate the bad news. There had to be a way to resolve this. There _had_ to be.

* * *

Nanoha walked shakily across the corridor, pacing her steps carefully. She felt drained and dazed as Fate supported her arm. The arm that held Oguba. Somehow, it didn't feel entirely healthy to grip the Lost Logia against her naked flesh, contract or not. The longer she held it, the more it felt like it was just sucking the strength out of her...

Raging Heart in her right hand was what helped sustain her, along with Fate. Her beautiful Fate. The two of them shone so bright in her mind, helping her move on. Fate had offered to hold Oguba for herself, but fear had almost paralysed Nanoha's mind at the thought. As if she knew it might be lethal to do such for a thing. No, she had a contract with Oguba. She had to be the one to carry it.

_Mariel. I need to speak to Mariel. And quickly, before Oguba cripples me for much longer._

"That thing is dangerous," Fate had said, as Nanoha's weakness had been all too visible from the moment they had left the laboratories. "Was it worth going through so much for it?"

Nanoha shrugged. "Jewel Seeds are dangerous. Touching them could create monsters. But it is Oguba's power that saps my strength. I won't have to touch it for much longer."

And so it was, that they eventually found Mariel at the corner just outside the control room, on her way back from meeting with Hayate to discuss their strategy after the sudden disappearance of Grylmark's illusions at the perimeter. Mariel's eyes widened in shock when she caught sight of the pair of them, and even more so when she saw what Nanoha was holding. She stood rooted to the spot as the brunette mage caught hold of her hand and pushed Raging Heart against her palm.

"Mariel," she gasped, at the last of her strength. "I want you to complete Raging Heart's maintenance with Oguba's parts."

She dropped the Lost Logia against the engineer's gloved hand, making sure that it didn't touch her skin, and collapsed against the wall as Fate quickly propped her up. But it was fine. Nanoha knew her strength would return soon enough.

"N-nanoha-san?" Mariel stammered, staring at the Lost Logia as if it were a new living organism delivered into her care. "How...how could..._Oguba?_ But that's..."

"It's a long story," Nanoha said tiredly. "Mariel...please. Finish Raging Heart's requests and install Oguba's parts into it. That's all it needs to be fully operable again."

Mariel looked like she was still trying to recover from the shock of holding the Lost Logia. "But...but even if this _is_ Oguba, I don't know anything about it! I wouldn't know where to _begin!_ How could I dismantle such an artifact and - "

"Trust in Raging Heart," the Ace of Aces murmured in reply, her consciousness gradually fading as she sagged in Fate's soft arms. "As long as you have Oguba, Raging Heart will guide you."

Her chin fell onto her chest as she blacked out from the exhaustion, her last sensation that of Fate cradling her, arms tightly around her waist. It was not an unpleasant experience. When she awoke, she knew everything would be all right again.


	16. Contractor

**A/N: Yes, I'm back! I'm sorry for the long delay, I've been busy with work and been trying to get my motivation back. If some parts seem a bit sketchy it's because I might be a bit out of touch after four months. But please tell me if you have any problems. Here you are!  
**

Stability returned to the Time-Space Administration Bureau, at least for just another day. Although word spread quickly within several minutes that the brief attack had been successfully neutralised, it was a few hours before the results of the fighting came to light. With Grylmark's defeat, the bulk of the aggressive mutants at the perimeter vanished along with him, leaving the remainder to be easily dispatched by the TSA's forces. Since the assault had been made up of mostly harmless illusions, the casualties inflicted upon the Bureau were minimal. It seemed that this time round, everyone had been much better-prepared.

Caro and Fried were included in the minor numbers of the injured. Despite being situated far away from the main command, Tiana had still been able to radio in for help quickly after the Manticore had been dispatched, so that the young summoner and her guardian dragon were able to receive medical attention almost immediately. The pair of them were unconscious but still alive, and their recuperation would take time.

They had lost Srethis, which was a blow to their investigations already, and failed to capture any of their opponents who had revealed themselves during the escape. But now one of their own had been taken away as well. _Vita._

Subaru and Erio had arrived at the scene too late to see Signum standing by herself, at the exact spot where the portal had opened up, as if she felt that it might magically open up by itself again. Only one thought was going through the Velka Knight's mind right now: _Vita had been taken. _She hadn't been strong or skilful enough to stop it happening. In Signum's mind, it was her responsibility alone.

"Leave me," the Velka Knight said impassively when the two forwards arrived. She had her back turned towards them, her head bowed as she stood facing forward.

"Signum..."

"Leave me be, Subaru," she repeated. "My inaction on the battlefield has caused a Guardian Knight to be captured. I have failed in my duty to Hayate-san."

Erio stepped forward next to the blue-haired cyborg. "Signum, nobody thinks it was your fault. If there's a way to get Vita back, then - "

"Vita? As we are now, she is out of our reach." Signum's voice was bitter and cold. "I have combed the area for any way with which I could follow her through, and found none. It seems that our enemies wield a greater power than we currently understand." Her voice shook with emotion, but she forced a semblance of reason into it. "Erio-san, I am not the kind of person to give up hope, but considering the amount of time that has passed since Vita went through the portal...our enemies would have wasted no time in killing her. Her chances of survival are very slim."

"Even a small chance is still a chance," Subaru countered quietly. "Vita isn't the type to go down easily. Hayate-san is heading a meeting right now to discuss our next move. She's invited you to listen in on what we're going to do."

"I know. I heard." Signum waved a hand dismissively. "You can do it without me."

"Signum..." Erio's face was a mask of sympathy. "Hayate-san asked for you _specifically. _Chrono-san has come down from the _Asura_ to discuss this specially now that we have new information on hand. They say we have a better idea of what we're up against. And - "

"No, Erio. Nothing will come of it." The Velka Knight turned her face wearily back towards the spot in the ground where the portal had appeared, her attention fixated upon it. Her spirits seemed to sink further as her head bowed towards the floor once more. "Did we achieve anything last time? No. All we had were mindless bureaucratic chatter and a lack of action. We _still_ don't know what's going on. And now...Vita is gone too." She sheathed Laevatein in a whisper of steel, turning her back towards them. "Do what you will. I will not be a part of these useless meetings_._"

For a moment the two forwards watched the long-haired mage stand motionless in the middle of the clearing. Vita's capture really had shaken her perception of events, that much was clear. The two of them had been together a long, long time, far longer than Subaru or Erio could remember. Maybe it would be best to leave her alone for the time being.

What exactly did Signum hope to achieve on her own by just standing here anyway? It wasn't like her to be so despondent. The portal wasn't exactly going to suddenly spring open again. And Subaur knew that if Hayate had directly ordered Signum to attend the meeting, then the Velka Knight's sense of duty to the Queen of the Night Sky would compel her to obey. But Hayate had never seen the Velka Knights as slaves, servants or tools. They were friends you strengthened relationships with. She would not force Signum to do something that she didn't want to do, even if it might be for her own good.

"Come on, Erio," Subaru said in a low voice, turning away. "Let's tell Hayate-san about her decision."

The red-haired boy's eyes widened in surprise. "She's not coming? We're just going to leave her here?"

"It's what she wants." Inwardly, Subaru didn't think Hayate would be overjoyed to hear that Signum was having second thoughts. It wasn't the wishes of two forwards that would force her out of her shell. Instead, it would probably be Hayate herself who could get her moving again, or a greater sign of progress within the Bureau. "Hayate-san will understand her reasons better than either of us. Come on, we'll miss the meeting."

* * *

The lights in the sky no longer seemed bright and confident as before. Instead, they seemed faint and unsteady, perhaps on the brink of fading away altogether. In contrast, the sky itself seemed unusually bright and optimistic, streaking pale shades of milky white down to the void that opened up far below.

The memorable crystal pillar which stood high in the dead centre of the plane was surrounded on all sides by hostile faces. Because this time, the pillar contained someone trapped inside it. It contained a red-haired Velka Knight, unconscious and powerless, vicious icicles barring her body from movement from every angle. Vita's frozen prison was not one that offered the slightest possibility of escape, especially when its occupant was unable to transform.

Four faces watched the girl with varying degrees of apprehension. A lizard's fearful gaze, an alien being's passive disgust, a dark-haired girl's glare of pure hatred, and the Legion's almost alarmingly lack of emotion whatsoever.

As usual, Grylmark had failed to make an appearance. Exoria couldn't recall the last time he'd even turned up. In any case, he was still a mysterious character unexplained by Oguba who aided them when it suited him, and she didn't trust him any further than she could see him. And it had been a long time since she had even taken a glimpse of him.

It had been some time since Ungore and Srethis had made it back through the portal. Exoria had fought to control her rage at having being forced to help them. If she had her way, neither of them would be alive right now. But she was bidden to her mistress to adhere to the rules of their organisation: every member looked after their own.

She had regretted her decision from the instant she had carried it out. Srethis had come back alive, to her dismay. And now..._this. _One of the Bureau's agents had pursued them through the portal. Of course, they had been unaccustomed to dimension switches without Oguba's protection, and the journey had caused them to lose unconsciousness. But they still weren't dead, and with every passing moment Exoria wondered exactly _why_...

"Who is this?" she said in a deadly whisper. "Why are they _here?_ Why were they allowed through?"

Ungore opened its mouth as if to speak, then thought better of it, averting its gaze. The alien glanced in Srethis' direction. They all knew that the lizard had been the last one through the portal before it can closed up completely.

The Legion said, "The subject is called Vita. She is an experienced Velka Knight, specialising in close combat and in breaking through strong defences. She is also part of the..." There was a brief moment of hesitation here, which was extremely rare for the Legion. It sounded like it was trying to avoid saying a certain word. "She is one of Yagami Hayate's Guardian Knights," the Legion said eventually.

Exoria's face darkened further. "Another of Hayate's pawns?! Why is she still alive? If she is close to Hayate, then her death registers among our top priorities! _Why_ isn't she dead, you ignorant metal swine?!"

"I have received no orders for Vita's termination," came the static reply. "However, if she were to regain consciousness, she would undoubtedly be a threat to our organisation. In which case I have taken measures to ensure that she does not cause any trouble."

"Yes, she _would_ be a threat to our organisation, you fool!" Exoria almost screamed. "And _that_ is why you should kill her right now!"

She burned to do the job herself, but knew all too well that her magic would not be able to penetrate the barrier that the Legion had placed around their prisoner. Her path was clear: any emotional links to Hayate had to be severed. That included the killing of Vita. Delaying things was not going to help their situation in any way.

The voice of the superior program above them rose in volume, though the flickering lights could not quite fill the space around them.

"Be silent, Exoria," the superior ordered. "Your job in rescuing Ungore and Srethis was carried out successfully. I commend you for that. If you would allow me to - "

"Are you keeping this pawn of Hayate alive?" the dark-haired Time Mage demanded, balling her hands into fists angrily. "You had better have a good reason, because I cannot possibly permit this act of sheer idiocy!"

The lights in the sky faded for a moment as the superior program paused. "There are some among us," the female voice said clearly, though with a shade of unease present, "who would prefer that her termination is...delayed."

Exoria could almost taste blood in her mouth. "_Delayed? _What insanity is this?" She stared around at the rest of the organisation accusingly. The Legion returned her gaze without emotion, and Ungore looked mildly bored with the whole affair, but...the other member here was definitely avoiding her eyes. Without another moment's hesitation, she marched forward and jerked the lizard off the ground by the scruff of its neck. "_Srethis? _Have you lost your _mind?_ You're _defending_ this Guardian Knight, this excuse for a mage, this filthy agent of Hayate - "

Srethis' raised its eyes to hers, but failed to quite meet the intensity of her glare. "Her name iss Vita," it said quietly, a submissive edge to its voice. "She ssaved Srethis when Srethiss was on the verge of death. Srethis iss unwilling to let her die as well - "

"Let her die? Let her die." She had to dig her nails into the flesh of her wrist to keep herself in control for a moment. The link to Hayate was almost more than Exoria could bear. "You will not," she managed, her voice coming out in a harsh whisper, unclenching one fist, "you will _not,_ inhuman lizard, alien of Red Scorpion, outsider – you will _not_ take command over this, not when Hayate – when I – when Yagami-sama - "

She whirled towards the pillar of ice which contained Vita's body, the hate and tension mounting inside all her at once as she rushed over to smash it to pieces -

"_Time Destru_- "

The world reared up on all sides around her like a wild beast and slammed hard into her. Colours exploded in the back of her head and her vision blurred and went out of focus. The harsh emotions from before fizzled out into confusion and fell apart inside her, disorientating her sense of self in one more than way. Dazed, Exoria blinked and managed a few more steps before falling to the ground, her mind numb and unresponsive.

When everything came back into focus only a few moments later, she found herself in the same position just before she had lunged madly at the crystal pillar. Frowning, Exoria shook her head to clear her thoughts. It was the first time that she had actually been attacked by another member of the organisation...and yet...

"What just happened?" she said in a barely audible murmur. Her voice felt dry and crackled uncomfortably in her throat.

The Legion's did not look at her, but there was something in its stance and body language – if you could call it that – which suggested that it was on edge. If the circumstances had been different, Exoria would even had thought that it was preparing for battle.

_To deal with me? I did nothing wrong. Why treat me like a threat? All I was going to do was remove one of our enemies away from us - _

"Exoria," the superior program said clearly, "your actions most recently have not spoken well of your mental state - "

"Are you saying I'm _crazy?_" Her blood boiled again, and she steeled herself for this. If the Legion even _touched_ her -

"I advise you to calm yourself," the superior said with a hint of annoyance muddying its tone. "Your obsession with Yagami Hayate has affected you to an alarming degree. In fact...you have changed ever since our previous leader departed from us..." The unspoken question hung in the air for a moment. "Let us not be side-tracked. You asked why we are keeping the Guardian Knight Vita for now."

"Yes!" Exoria spat, turning away. "And all because Srethis went soft and decided that - "

The lights above them became clouded. "_No,_" the superior program said pressingly. "Srethis, in fact...is not our concern. And its opinion of what happens to the Guardian Knight does not bear favourably with me. I would have preferred, in fact, that the Guardian Knight Vita be terminated upon the instant of her capture here to prevent further complications. However, one other among us is interested in keeping her alive..."

_Who? _Exoria wanted to shriek at the lot of them. There was no reason why anyone else among them would want to protect the life of the enemy. The Legion served the superior program and pledged itself to the will of the organisation. Ungore wouldn't care. The only person who would...

"That would be me, Exo-chan," came a sweet voice out of the darkness.

The slender form of a little girl stepped out into their midst, beaming happily as she intertwined her fingers with each other lazily. As she passed near to where Srethis lay on the ground, the lizard scowled and crawled away in the other direction, hissing fearfully.

_The client, _Exoria thought. _I should have known. How convenient for her to turn up to visit at now of all times..._

"You," she said flatly. "_You_ want to keep this enemy mage alive."

The client smiled faintly. The smile, of course, did not reach her eyes, because her eye sockets remained as empty and as blackened as they had always been. No matter how many times she encountered them, it was still unnerving to see her like this every time.

"I have my reasons, Exo-chan," the little girl said with an air of kindness. "But I am deeply upset that you felt so strongly about going against my wishes just a moment ago. You truly wished to destroy Vita-san, didn't you? That is not a path that pursues friendship."

Exoria gritted her teeth together and silently wished that she would shut up about friendship. Such talk had no place in an organisation of assassins such as theirs, a place of death. There was a lot which bothered her about the client. She just seemed so..._wrong._ But even Exoria had to adhere to her wishes. The superior program always showed the greatest of respects to the client whenever she came to visit.

"Forget what I said before," she said, trying to sound as casual as possible. "At your request, the Guardian Knight will remain...unharmed." Even saying the words made her want to cut someone. Any link to Hayate had to be severed before it killed her from the inside. Exoria knew that from past experience.

The little girl chortled. "You don't need to have any fear, Exo-chan. Soon enough, you will be far away from our little Guardian Knight here. She will trouble you no more; I will even swear by the great Oguba that this shall be so. You can even pretend she's dead if that helps put your mind at rest. Would that help, Exo-chan? I'd be so glad to make you feel just a little better after you've had _such_ a bad time."

"I only lost my temper for five minutes."

"Yes, yes, of course, Exo-chan, after you'd had such a bad five minutes. We wouldn't want a repeat of that." The client turned away from her to address the rest of the organisation. "Now, all of you, I'd like to say that you're doing a _spectacular _job here. You fulfilled my last request when I last came here and the offering to Oguba is more than sufficient, I have to say. A fitting exchange between both parties, don't you think? I love it when everything works out in the end."

The rest of the organisation exchanged glances. Even Srethis and Ungore shared an uneasy look between the pair of them.

"So...we can keep our powers?" Ungore said warily.

"Oh, of course, esteemed native of Hunzichille Beta. You may have no fear. I have Oguba's word for that."

"And nothing iss going to happen?" Srethis said in a low voice. "Nothing...bad?"

"Nothing catastrophic!" the client said brightly. "Except for the Time-Space Bureau hunting you down for kidnapping one of their top mages. But you can deal with that, can't you?"

There was a long silence amongst all the others, as the tension grew and grew. Something sounded wrong about the entire exchange. As if...as if...

"Are you sure we can't just kill the prisoner?" Exoria asked. "Wouldn't it save a lot of troub- "

She stopped in mid-sentence when she realised she was talking to an empty space. The client was no longer standing there. The little girl with the cheery smile and the dead eyes had vanished completely. Not even her footprints remained upon the dust, as if she had never existed at all.

Exoria looked towards the others, genuinely puzzled.

"Where did she just go?" she said. "She was just...here. Right now. I was talking to her. We all were. She can't have just - "

"She's gone," the Legion said. "All my systems confirm that there is no sign of our client in this plane of existence."

Irritated glares shot from around their party, eventually ending up directed at the superior above them. This wasn't how things usually played out around here. You didn't just _leave._

"She's really gone?" Exoria said in disbelief. "She couldn't have told us _before_ vanishing like that?"

Srethis shrugged. "Srethiss thinkss she had to travel through time urgently. Ssshe has no time for uss. Not anymore."

_But it felt really awkward and not that the client usually does. Before, she was about to finish the contract with us and sealed everything officially. Here, it was as if she just left in the middle of the conversation._

She left whilst _I_ was speaking, Exoria grumbled to herself. That was just plain rude.

"So what about the prisoner?" Ungore drawled. "Are we allowed to kill her now that our client decided to randomly disappear?"

The lights in the sky shifted to a mix of purple and grey. "The client wants the Guardian Knight to be kept alive," countered the superior program.

"The client isn't here," the alien said flatly. "The client ditched us. Our contract's ended, dead, finished, said we couldn't kill the prisoner afterwards. We don't have to do what that little brat says anymore, oh no - "

"And if you are wrong," the Legion stated, "and if such activity would breach the contract, then as soon as the Guardian Knight dies, you will all lose your powers of time-travel with Oguba, forever. It is up to you whether the death of this one mage is worth the risk for all of you."

Ungore and Exoria stopped dead upon hearing that. It was still a possibility, and not one than either of them had wanted to hear. Of course, the two of them were the only ones who had a contract with Oguba, aside from Grylmark. Where _was_ Grylmark, anyway? At such times like these...

"We will keep the Guardian Knight alive for the time being," the superior said decisively, "but I will deal with her fate personally. And now that our contract has come to an end, it is time for us to act fast. The Time-Space Administration Bureau will be looking for us. However, before that..." A steely edge to the program's voice appeared without warning. "Srethis. Ungore. A caution for both of you."

The lizard and the alien both perked up attentively, crouched on the ground since their entry back through the portal.

"I am disappointed with your actions before, Ungore," the superior said. "You were forbidden to go back to rescue Srethis. And yet you risked your life to return back into enemy territory to do exactly that. You also did so with barely enough power to initiate a single Chronological Time Switch, meaning that you were not able to return here without extra help. I had to send Exoria to bring you back. Now, thanks to your efforts, we are lumbered with a high-ranking Guardian Knight whom we cannot get rid of."

"What'd you expect me to do?" the alien demanded. "Srethis was going to die in there without any medicine. I am the only one who can supply it. Did you expect me to just sit back here and let them die?"

"I expect you to follow orders," the female voice of the superior program said lashingly. "This should come as no surprise to you...but Srethis was not meant to return from our first attack on the Bureau."

Ungore stared up at the superior in disbelief as the lights flashed intensely from high above, flickering between black and white. Next to it, the lizard's head was bowed down in resignation towards the ground, its face turned away.

"You sent Srethis out there to die," the alien said quietly, its eyes a hard measure of accusation. "We all knew it was a suicide mission, but...I didn't think you _meant_ it like that for Srethis."

The lights flooded with pure white, blazing down from the heavens, a shrill scream of colour. Dazzled, the alien shielded its eyes from the sight, stumbling backwards and struggling to see.

"You do not know us," the superior program said in a voice of controlled anger, "and we do not know you. All we were, all our organisation has ever been, was Exoria, the Legion, myself and the members that departed from our ranks. Oguba saved your lives – took you and Ungore from dying planets, races that were becoming instinct – and gave you a chance to live again within our organisation. But still you do not know us, Ungore, you do not know the sacrifices that must be made for the good of the organisation, the dangers that we must face to achieve our objective, the ability of our members to lay down their lives for the organisation and for the greater glory beyond..."

The alien stiffened upon hearing this, struggling through the uncanny blinding light that flooded the entire party. "And you say that sending Srethis to their death...was _necessary?"_

The lights began to blaze even brighter, but then dimmed once more, as if the superior had lost the will to continue with this. Instead, they simply said, "Legion. Explain for me."

The Legion nodded and spoke calmly. "Srethis did not accept Oguba's powers. They cannot travel through time without the aid of Exoria or yourself. That in itself would not be a problem if Srethis perhaps had some great advantage or powerful innate ability which made up for it. It is true that Srethis' shapeshifting ability is useful, but its capacity is extremely limited. They can only transform into one person: Yagami Hayate. In addition, Srethis is not an ideal specimen. They are diseased and, as you know, require constant injections of medicine that only you can supply, Ungore.

"Srethis is a drain on resources. They are not helping the organisation. They are an obstruction, and that is why Srethis was sent to their death – to benefit the rest of us."

Ungore had taken a few steps back upon hearing all this, their face almost ashen with fear. Their eyes flitted towards Exoria, almost pleadingly, but the dark-haired girl had no space for sympathy in her heart. She returned the stare with a bored look on her face.

"You can't do this," the alien whispered. "You would kill Srethis again now, after all I have done to rescue them from certain - "

"That is correct," the superior said. "But there is little point in wasting further resources to kill them now, especially when you are so opposed to the idea. Therefore the rest of us have decided that since you have such consideration for Srethis' wellbeing, you shall be responsible for it. Srethis is no longer part of our organisation; they are dead to us. If you wish to administer medicine to them and keep Srethis alive, then that is your business. The rest of us will have nothing to do with it. If, however, you turn against the organisation for whatever reason, we will strike you down without mercy.

"That is all I have to say to you and Srethis on the matter, Ungore. And one more point of advice: do not get in our way. Do not obstruct us. Otherwise, our only option will be to eliminate you on the spot. Do the right thing, Ungore. You are still a part of our organisation. Follow orders, reap the rewards, keep Srethis out of the way, and you will live happily." The lights faded to black. "There is nothing more that needs to be said."

* * *

Nanoha's weariness from holding Oguba for too long had quickly passed, and now it seemed she was back to normal. Activity buzzed around her, keeping her alert and on top of the wave of exhaustion which had threatened to push her down before. When she opened her eyes again, a great calmness had taken place within her mind, returning stability to her senses. She was in control again. Conviction and determination pulsed within her as she sat up in her chair – no longer helpless between the sheets of a hospital bed, but active and ready for action in person with the rest of the Time-Administration Bureau.

She felt Fate's hand in hers, gripping her tightly, lending her strength even now when she could stand on her own two feet. Nanoha's face softened with her lover's presence; there was still so much that she needed to say to Fate, and so little time for the opportunity to do so. So much had happened and yet she still needed more time with Vivio...

_Fate has saved me so many times already. But each time, she has suffered in my place. I'm not going to let that happen any more, not whilst Raging Heart's power still burns within me. It's time to stop being so...so..._

"Nanoha?"

She blinked and breathed in sharply as Fate's crimson eyes settled on her, filled with concern. Awkwardly, Nanoha brought herself back to reality and gave the blonde mage's hand a tight squeeze.

"I'm okay now, Fate," she said with a consoling smile. "Really. I feel like I'm back with everyone at last."

_Especially with you next to me_, she wanted to say. _You and Vivio bring me more hope and support than everyone else here put together. Even when I've spent so much time recently either being amnesiac or unconscious._

She saw Fate purse her lips, as if she was about to say something on her mind. For a moment, Fate even seemed nervous and troubled.

"Nanoha," she said in rushed tones, "I have to tell you somethi- "

Before she could go any further, the main screens of the meeting room booted up as one and flooded the area with a mix of colours, materialising in three-dimensional holograms which appeared in front of each member of the Bureau. The room began to fill with more people, most of whom were recognisable to Nanoha, some of whom were low-ranking officials or criterion audit officials with no real importance. The meeting was about to begin.

She looked towards Fate with wide eyes, but the blonde Enforcer shook her head, indicating she would tell her later. Well, it seemed there was no help for it, but still Nanoha was curious to know what was on Fate's mind.

As far as she could tell, everyone was here with her. Chrono was preparing to head off the main discussion, with Shari's aid on the central screen. Tiana, Subaru and Erio were gathered around the front tables, bent forward attentively – for a moment Nanoha wondered where Caro could be, but then again she was yet to be completely up to date on the most recent events. Hayate was present too, surrounded by her remaining Guardian Knights and -

No, wait. The only Guardian Knight there was Shamal. Signum and Zafira had both failed to turn up. Vita had been captured, hadn't she? Why would two of her closest friends not want to be here to discuss what was to be done?

"Let's begin," Chrono said, adjusting his uniform formally as he pulled his chair forward. Behind him, Shari began typing away, bringing up details of relevant reports compiled and data assessed of the important topics to be discussed.

He motioned to Shari and she stood up to address the main audience.

"As not everyone is aware of the recent situation at the Bureau," Shari announced, "I have been instructed to give you a run-down of events." She motioned with the grip-sensor in her hand to send a stream of camera images and written articles across the holographic screens in front of everyone. "The Time-Administration Bureau was attacked twice by a group of people with hostile intentions towards us. The first attack was initiated by two people - Srethis, a reptilian alien who was able to impersonate Hayate-san and bring down out defence systems from within, and Grylmark, an elderly summoner who was able to swamp our forces around the vaults where the Lost Logias were kept, and act as a decoy.

"The main process of this attack was for these people to steal the Lost Logia we now know as _Oguba._ Research headed by Yuuno Scrya has confirmed that Oguba has definite connections to the unknown art of time travel. We are also aware that these people were able to utilise the powers of Oguba to travel through time and kidnap Hayate-san so as to - "

"Excuse me for interrupting, Shari," came a voice from the far right. Faces turned as Hayate came to her feet, looking disgruntled and impatient. "How long is this going to take? We are running out of time here."

Shari flushed slightly on being confronted unexpectedly after she'd just started. "Well, Chrono-san wanted me to give everyone an overview on everything that - "

"_Everything? _I'm sorry, Shari, but you're going to have to skip all that. We'll be here all day." Hayate shot an unfriendly look towards Chrono for a brief moment and then turned back to Shari. It was evident that she was not altogether pleased with the approach that Chrono was taking to all of this, especially when he was supposed to be on the _Claudia_ warship, and not in these kinds of meetings.

"Vita is in _trouble,_" she said emphatically, placing her hands down sharply on the desk in front of her. "She was taken away by enemies of the Bureau through a time portal. We don't even know if she's still alive! And you want to waste time talking about what's already _happened,_ Chrono?"

Chrono flung her a distasteful look and cleared his throat. "I think it is vital that everyone is first aware of - "

"Oh, I'm aware. You're aware. We're all very aware." Hayate spread her arms out, gesturing towards everyone else in the room. "If anyone right now isn't aware, they can read what's on the screen in front of them and become even more aware. People are dying. Half of the compound was a warzone just yesterday. Caro isn't even here because she's been _hospitalised_ from her injuries." Angrily, she forced him to meet her gaze. "This isn't one of your petty meetings, Chrono. It's about life and death. Our enemies are capable of time travel, and we _don't have any time left._"

Nanoha exchanged a worried look with Fate. This was not off to a good start. Chrono wasn't the sort of person who would just back down and let Hayate do things her own way: this was just going to turn into a big argument. She could almost sense Chrono preparing a backlash in response.

Hastily, she sprang to her feet, silencing the uneasy murmuring around the room.

"Chrono, Hayate," she said in as reassuringly a tone as she could manage right now, "this isn't the time to be arguing. Let's look at what we've got. Do we have any further information on our attackers that could help us find Vita?"

Shari quickly intervened to respond to this, anxious as well to prevent any further outcries from the people here. "We do. We know much more now about who we're up against."

The screens in front of them changed with another motion of the grip-sensor, and several different slides appeared before them. Familiar faces of their opponents flickered into full view. Nanoha did not miss how many of her teammates tensed up considerably upon seeing them. Especially Tiana.

"One." The first profile came up too zoom in on the face of a lizardlike face, eyes narrowed into slits and a slimy tongue flitting out between sharp teeth. "Srethis. They are of an alien, reptilian race that is unknown to all planets under TSA circulation. They played a vital role in the first attack against the Bureau but were subdued and captured thanks to the heroic actions of Enforcer Fate Harlaown. Unfortunately, their allies returned to take them away and Srethis was able to escape. During that time we discovered that Srethis was unable to give us any helpful information and had a suspiciously limited knowledge about many things in general. We have concluded that they are not exactly a high-priority case at the moment. They possess excellent acrobatic skill, but the main thing which makes them a threat at all...is their ability to transform into Hayate-san." Shari swallowed nervously upon saying this, deliberately avoiding eye contact with her superior. Quickly, she moved onto the next profile.

"Two." A somewhat blurred and vague-looking of the next creature flashed up before them, wearing a red hood around its head. "Ungore. Species unknown. They came here through a time portal to rescue Srethis, and caused a lot of damage in the process, which resulted in Vita's kidnapping. From Signum's information in fighting them, we have discovered that they are proficient in using magic, although not of any kind that is familiar to our research department. Regardless, they will be treated as a medium-priority danger to the Bureau.

"Three." The face of a dark-haired girl with bright eyes full of determination came up next on the screen. "Exoria. Responsible for kidnapping Yagami Hayate and taking her through a time portal during the first attack, where it is believed that she intended to kill her for good. Initially, we only had Hayate-san's information first-hand about Exoria, but this Time Mage also made another appearance inside the Bureau itself - she aided Srethis and Ungore in their escape by opening up another time portal within the grounds. Her abilities appear to be directly linked to Oguba and focus on close combat. She is to be treated as medium to high priority.

"Four." The next screen revealed a blank face, with a question mark in the centre of the profile. "Grylmark. Or, as he wishes to call himself, Grylmark the Third. His appearance is that of an old man, but we have not been able to catch him officially on camera as yet. Tiana Lanstar, however, has first-hand experience of his abilities." She caught a barely perceptible nod from the young orange-haired sharpshooter in the front row. "He has acted as a decoy for our enemies in both attacks on the Bureau – both using the same tactic of summoning great monsters to throw our forces into disarray. He is to be treated as high priority."

The rest of the members of TSAB in the room took a moment to scan through the documents in front of them. A general sense of relief could be felt at this information. For once, they weren't left in the dark. They now had a good idea of what exactly they were up against. But still...

"There can't be just four of them," Fate said, speaking up for the first time. "We must be prepared for potentially more powerful enemies among them."

Chrono nodded in agreement. "These four are the only ones who have shown themselves to us so far. Most importantly, they have Vita. What we need to do is find out where they have taken her and send a rescue party to get her back, whilst apprehending as many of these people for their crimes as we can." A grim look came upon his face. "Vita's fate right now is a worry for many of us here, I know. But she is still one of us, not to mention one of Hayate-san's Guardian Knights. She won't go down that easily."

"Thank you for that, Chrono," Hayate murmured quietly. Her expression was unreadable. "And...do we actually know where any of these opponents are? They went through a time portal, remember?"

Shari raised her head, looking uncomfortable again. "Actually...we have, in a way. We have been able to locate two of our enemies: Exoria and Grylmark. Or at least, who they used to be."

"What do you mean by that, Shari?" Nanoha asked.

"We've been able to search via the magic field, presentation of abilities and general type of magic that resonated from each of these people," the communications operator explained. "Exoria and Grylmark are the only humans, so we are able to find that they _exist_ upon Mid-Childa. However..."

Everyone else in the room waited with baited breath, their eyes on her as she hesitated in phrasing the words.

"And?" Erio said impatiently.

"And they are different people," Shari said, trying to hide her disappointment to the rest of them. "The people who match the profile of Exoria and Grylmark on this world are the wrong age, or have a different appearance, and bear no relation to these enemies of the Bureau. In fact, the man who should match as Grylmark died many years ago."

A mixture of hopelessness and mild disgust at their plight ran through everyone else in the room at hearing this. Of course their opponents would not be so easy to track, especially if they were no longer in this time era. They were back to square one now.

"If we can't find them," Subaru said with bitterness in her voice, "then how are we going to get Vita back?"

Nanoha understood why Subaru in particular felt the way she did. Vita had been Subaru's mentor in her primary training, after all, teaching her the ways of close combat. She had spent as much time with Vita as Signum did. Losing her would hit Subaru especially hard.

"There's only one thing I can think of," Fate said. "They escaped through a time portal. We need to find a way to open a time portal of our own."

Chrono shook his head, his whole mannerisms slouched towards defeat like so many others in the room. "Open a time portal? How exactly are you going to do that?"

_"Because I will show you how,_" spoke out a metallic mechanical voice amongst them without warning.

Startled, everyone turned to the source of the new voice. It seemed to resonate around the entire room, but echoed from the back row...where Nanoha and Fate were seated. As people whirled around to stare at the pair of them, the two mages felt visibly affronted, and Nanoha backed her chair up slightly. The voice had not sounded human at all, but it had come...directly from her...

"What's going on?" Tiana blurted out. "Who was that?"

Chrono hadn't taken his eyes off Nanoha. "It came from your direction, Nanoha."

"I didn't say anything!" the Ace of Aces protested, as everyone around her searched in vain for the source of the mysterious speaker. "Did that even _sound_ like my voice?"

"No, that was no human," Shari said softly, looking at the fighting instructor with a curious light in her eyes. "That was...a mage's device."

_"Yes,_" the voice spoke out once more for everyone to hear. _"You all know who I am."_

This time there was no doubt about where the computerised voice was coming from. It was coming directly from where Nanoha was sitting. As if someone was standing in her exact same position and chanting the words. Her mouth wasn't moving, and there wasn't anyone speaking through her. Yet the voice echoed from her body, as the eyes of the entire room were upon her...

_Wait. _Nanoha realised the impact of Shari's words all at once in the midst of half-panic. _A mage's device?_

Shaking slightly, she pulled free the red gem concealed inside her palm. Mariel had made a few brief modifications to it just a day or so earlier, when Nanoha had come to her with Oguba's physical form gripped in her hand, barely able to stay on her feet as the Lost Logia sucked out her energy on the spot. The Lost Logia was dangerous, that much was for certain, but Raging Heart had not shown any signs of change or corruption in any way.

That was no longer the case now, because as the light caught the edge of the device, black and blue shadows whirled around the gem, and mysterious runes appeared at the edge of the small sphere...

_Raging Heart?_

It shouldn't be possible. Mariel had told her that she needed more time to study the Lost Logia before she could begin to extract any of the components suggested. Instead, she had made very minimal changes to Raging Heart's molecular structure. The gem had continued to refuse to react...except for now...

_"You are correct,"_ Raging Heart's voice blazed out as Nanoha stepped forward into the middle of the room, the device held preciously in her hands. _"I am speaking with the voice of your device: the voice of Raging Heart. But in reality, I am the spirit of Oguba, the Lost Logia of time travel. It is I who brought Takamachi Nanoha back to you, and it is I upon which the balance of chaos and order revolves around in the time-space continuum. It is my power which grants Red Scorpion their mystical abilities that you have been witness to so far, and it is my power which will grant _you_ the ability to set things right once more."_

For several moments the entire room seemed to have been struck dumb. Chrono and Hayate were staring at Raging Heart with a mixture of fear and confusion, as if expecting it to explode at any moment. Shari seemed more bewildered than anything, and several people had already edged backwards in their seats. This was not how a mage's device would act.

"Nanoha, what's happened to Raging Heart?" Shari said in hushed tones. "Did Mariel break it or something?"

"She didn't do anything to it, Shari. She hasn't even finished upgrading it yet."

"_Something's_ happened to it, then," Chrono said, looking sceptical. "How can Oguba be speaking through a device? That's impossible."

_Maybe not,_ Nanoha thought inwardly. _Oguba spoke into my mind before. And now that it has a physical form...who knows what it could do?_

_ "Your suspicions are well founded," _Raging Heart continued roughly in its metallic voice. _"However, you will soon be forced to admit that I can be none other than Oguba. Raging Heart would not be able to tell you detailed information about the members of Red Scorpion with whom I have sealed contracts with. I know the location of your missing comrade, the Guardian Knight Vita. I know the only means of which you can retrieve her. With my power, nothing is impossible. With my power, you will be able to open and close time portals at your leisure. There is no reason for you to refuse my information and assistance."_

A doubtful look shot across Chrono's face. The voice speaking to them now was definitely not Raging Heart in any form. It had to...it could only be Oguba himself. Even so, the premise was extremely unlikely...

_"Doubt my claims if you will,_" Oguba said without concern. _"When you are ready, I will open for you the time portal through which your comrade Vita was pulled into. You will then be able to rescue her and deal with Red Scorpion as you wish."_

"This all sounds very suspicious," Chrono said, still not convinced. "Why would you want to help us so eagerly like this?"

The indigo shadows swirled within Raging Heart's interior, darkening its appearance. _"My contract is with Takamachi Nanoha,"_ it responded. _"I am bidden to give my power to serve her requirements of me, much like any mage's device. And if I serve her, I must serve you all in this simple task. That is the reason for my existence. Protect and serve."_

Hayate stirred uncomfortably at hearing that. It sounded like the kind of moral that her own Guardian Knights upheld as well. It made her feel even more anxious to get Vita back as soon as possible.

"Nanoha?" Fate whispered at her side. "What do you think?"

There was no doubt in her mind. She recognised the voice in the strange dreams she had experienced whilst she was unconscious. The voice of the time-traveller. "It's Oguba," she said immediately. "I don't know how he can speak through Raging Heart when it hasn't been upgraded yet. But it's Oguba."

She was about to ask the blonde mage about her opinion when Fate stood up in the meeting hall to speak out, drawing attention to herself. The arguing voices of the soldiers and officials by the doors died down as the Enforcer turned to address everyone.

"Maybe it is Oguba," she said diplomatically. "And maybe it isn't. But it seems to have information on our opponents that we don't have, and we need every scrap of information we can get. Isn't it worth asking a few questions?"

"What if it's the wrong information?" Chrono replied. "What if it lies?"

_"I am incapable of lying,"_ Raging Heart's voice said at a greater volume,rising above the rest of them. _"I am not a human being. I am a Lost Logia. However, I do not have all the answers for you. I can only see what I can see. I am not contracted with the whole of Red Scorpion. I do not know their aims or ambitions in the long-term, though I am aware of the damage they have caused to your facility recently. But I can tell you about the people who I have contracts with. You need only ask your questions, and I will answer. And when you have need of me, I shall give to you my power for you to use as you see fit."_

As voices continue to be raised all around her, Nanoha already knew there was no doubt in her mind what was going on. Oguba was here to aid them, to fulfil its part of the contract. She understood why a lot of people might be suspicious that Raging Heart had just started talking to them and gained an outstanding knowledge of the situation better than anybody else here, but they'd be mad to turn them down now.

They needed help now. Oguba claimed it could open up a time portal for them to pass through and rescue Vita. As far as she knew, nobody else had any better ideas. She didn't want to admit it, but they were all out of other options.

She caught Hayate's eye as she held Raging Heart in her hand, and nodded sadly. Yes, Hayate obviously thought so too. Vita's disappearance was weighing especially heavy on her mind.

"Silence," Hayate said sharply, rapping her knuckles on the desk in front of her.

The room went silent so fast that it was almost ridiculous. Sometimes you had to admire Hayate for her ability to make people listen to her.

"I want to hear our friend out," the former leader of Riot Force 6 said, walking into the middle of the room to stand next to Nanoha. "And I have some questions for him. Such as who this "Red Scorpion" are that he keeps mentioning. And in-depth profiles of the people that Oguba has contracted with, abilities, ways to combat them, weaknesses...everything." She folded her arms testily. "So far, everything seems to add up. I'd like to trust what Oguba is saying so far."

"I agree," Erio spoke up from the front. "Our opponents wouldn't steal the Lost Logia just to give it back to us on false pretences." Next to him, Subaru and Tiana nodded as well. "There just wouldn't be any point."

As one they all looked towards Chrono, who was eyeing them with mild disgust.

"Fine, go ahead," the admiral said reluctantly. "But until I see some sign of this Oguba's actual abilities, I can't tell you that I'm going to believe any of this. You ask your questions, Hayate."

Hayate smiled and winked at Nanoha. "Looks like we're getting somewhere at last. So...Oguba. If that's what you are." She turned her full attention to the form of Raging Heart on the table. "Tell us who you're contracting with and what this "Red Scorpion" is."

Oguba wasted no time. _"Red Scorpion is the name of the assassination organisation which is responsible for the recent attacks upon the Time-Administration Bureau, Takamachi Nanoha's near demise, and Vita's kidnapping. Or should we say – that is what they _used_ to be called. Now they have thrown away that name and choose to keep themselves nameless. But for the purposes of these questions, Red Scorpion is what I shall refer to them as. As you know, I am contracted with some but not all of their members. They have completed their contract with me and are able to use my powers in time travel to their heart's desire."_

"And you don't see anything wrong with that?"

_ "The morals of humanity are not my concern,"_ Oguba stated. _"I am a contractor: nothing more, nothing less. With the completion of my contract, I no longer have any influence on the actions of Red Scorpion. And once I help rescue your friend from them, I will also leave you be to use my powers how you wish. Whether you use it to save a city or to destroy a civilisation is nothing __to do with me._

_ "You asked who I am contracted with. I have finished contracts with Exoria, Grylmark and Ungore. I can provide information on these three individuals alone – none others. I cannot see beyond."_

Hayate seemed to mull this over for a few moments, turning away from Raging Heart to look into the distance. In that amount of time, the only sound to be heard was Shari quickly typing all of this down. This could mean the difference between success and failure.

"Well,I guess we'll have to go with that," she said at last. "Tell me about these three and where they came ambitions, dreams and goals. Everything."

_"I can tell you this much," _Oguba said. _"These three clients of mine are from very, very different places. Ungore is from a race named Hunzichille Beta – a species which is now extinct, following the catastrophe of a dimensional distortion that occurred in another time completely. Ungore is the last remaining member of this species. As you know, one of its abilities is the extremely fast regeneration of its limbs, which can be turned into weapons to be used to its advantage. From what I have gleaned, Ungore seeks nothing more than survival and the resurrection of its species. Unfortunately, the latter is quite impossible._

_ "Exoria. She is human, but you will not have been able to locate her because she is in fact from an alternate universe completely. Of my three clients, she has proven to be the one best adapted to my powers of time travel. As you know, she is proficient as close combat. However, I cannot tell you about her thoughts and motivations, as her mind is clouded up with what you would call human emotions. I can tell you that is still constantly thinking about a specific person, but her chaotic way of thinking prevents me from delving too much into that matter._

_ "And Grylmark. He is human, but of a slightly different entity. It will confuse you to hear this, but he exists in several different timelines at the same time – whilst not existing in either of them either. I do not know a better way to simplify this explanation to you. I understand that his powers are also known to you. Again, I am unable to comment about his inner thought processes."_

Hayate smiled as the chattering and discussion around the room began to rise in volume. People were getting excited, feeling that they finally had a hold over their opponents now that they knew a great deal more about them. But that wasn't all. It was the fact that they had the promise of someone on their side who had been there before. They could use Red Scorpion's power of time travel against them.

"Have you got all of that, Shari?" she called out casually to the communications operator standing by the main screen, and waited until the young woman nodded quickly in response. "And Chrono? Do you still think we shouldn't take Oguba's offer for help?"

Chrono sighed, rising to his feet, looking over the rest of the mages. Oguba had been talking for barely five minutes and already the morale of the entire Bureau was up through the roof.

"Can you _really _open up a time portal?" he said to the clouded gem on the table.

_"Yes," _the metallic voice of the Lost Logia confirmed._ "There are limitations, of course. There always will be. But where a portal has been closed, it can be opened again from the other side. I cannot guarantee that it will stay open for long, but as long as I am with you, that should not be a problem."_

Nanoha stepped forward and picked up Raging Heart gingerly in her right hand. "You know exactly where Vita is?"

_"I know where Red Scorpion resides. If your comrade is alive, she will be with them. They are located on a plane of existence which is filled with lost time, an eternally broken limbo caught between parallel universes. Any portal in time will lead through it."_

"Good. That's what I wanted to hear." Nanoha grinned triumphantly. "Okay, everyone. We're rescuing Vita tomorrow."

Fate looked as if she was about to choke. "_Tomorrow?_" she said. "Isn't that a bit fast?"

"This whole exchange with Oguba was a bit fast. Honestly, it feels unstable, Fate. A Lost Logia is offering us all this information for...virtually nothing. It doesn't feel right." She sighed. "But we can't afford to turn it down. So whilst we still have the advantage, we need to get Vita back as quickly as possible."

_ If I could take it slower, I would. I still have so many things I need to do. I need to get Raging Heart upgraded properly. I have even more questions for Oguba. Like how I'm in possession of it when Red Scorpion were supposed to have stolen it...I need to spend more time with Vivio. I need to tell Fate something about - _

Wait.

"Fate?" she said, suddenly remembering. "You said you wanted to tell me something?"

Fate smoothed down her blonde hair across her uniform and smiled consolingly. "I'll tell you tomorrow, when we have more privacy."

_I'll be waiting for you,_ Nanoha thought, her curiosity pawing at her as her lover turned away.


	17. Love Before The Storm

It had been some time since Nanoha had been able to leave the safety of the TSAB's confining walls and breathe in the air of the outside world for herself. Ever since Red Scorpion's first attack, she had never been in a fit state to walk around outside the hospital ward. Now that she was able to, however, it was alarming to see the effects which the entire Bureua had suffered through. Extra security had been put into place on every corner, and half of the northern perimeter was being rebuild completely.

She leaned upon the railing of the balcony which overlooked the training grounds upon which Vita and Signum usually trained, not too far from the hospital wing. The sight of the hospital was a description of the last week in itself – there was still a giant hole gaping where Ward 4X used to be, which Ungore and Srethis had escaped through.

Signum hadn't moved from the location of the close time portal in all this time. She still continued to stand guard, as if expecting the portal to suddenly open by itself and spit Vita out. Even when Hayate had gone and told her personally that they were preparing to rescue Vita, the Velka Knight had just nodded silently and gone back to her post. Barely any reaction, as if resigning herself to waiting.

"Nanoha-mama?" Vivio's red and green pupils were a mix of sadness and worry. "You're going to go away again, aren't you?"

Oguba had told her that there would be no change. No change in time, between the moment they stepped through the portal and the instant they re-emerged with Vita rescued, and hopefully the rest of Red Scorpion carted along with them. It would be as if no time had passed in Mid-Childa.

"I am," Nanoha said, smiling gently as she lifted her daughter up to rest in the crook of her shoulder. "But I'll be back so quickly that you won't miss me."

"I _will_ miss you, Mama." Vivio's eyes filled with tears. "You left last time, without telling me. And you came back home so late that I almost didn't see you at all."

Nanoha froze for a moment. Vivio was talking about the time in which she had almost died. If it hadn't been thanks to Oguba, she might not have come back at all.

_My wish to Oguba. The binding of the contract. What did I wish for? How did he grant it? I wished for...I wished for..._

"Vivio, Mama promised to you that she would stay with you," she said, wrapping the girl up in her embrace, smoothing down her sandy-blonde hair affectionately. "But sometimes there are people who want to hurt us. And if Mama lets them do that, then Mama won't be able to stay with you as much, Vivio." She closed her eyes painfully as she traced Vivio's hairline with her fingers. "Mama just needs to stop these people. She'll back to you in a flash before you know it, and then we can spend all our time together. Okay, Vivio?"

Her daughter looked up hopefully towards her, her face shining. "Fate-mama too?"

Nanoha kissed her on the forehead. "Yes, Fate-mama will always be here too. We both love you so much, Vivio..."

She knew that Vivio had an understanding of what she meant. Vivio wasn't any ordinary child – she had been in the fight against Scaglietti and the Numbers and knew what Nanoha and Fate had to do every day. And that meant, at the same time, that Vivio might also realise that it was the kind of scenario which some people didn't survive. Your friends could die as quickly as that.

Not that anything like that was going to happen, of course. Nanoha refused to allow that. It was one of the reason why she refused to let Caro and Shamal come along on this round, considering how badly damaged they had been by the most recent attack on the Bureau. Besides which, they were both more suited for healing magic.

_Nothing bad's going to happen on the other side. Oguba has given us forewarning of the abilities of our enemies, and our main priority is to get Vita back safe and sound. Maybe Red Scorpion might have another trick up their sleeve, but we outnumber them. They're nothing that Riot Force 6 can't handle. In the end, they're just another group of criminal mages using magic only __to benefit themselves and to harm others. We can't allow them to walk free. _

Sometimes it ached to have people you love close to your heart, especially when you were fighting on the front line. Your enemies could use them against you, take them away from you...the thought of anyone taking Vivio away from her brought back unpleasant memories from the JS Incident, though they were thankfully short ones. The good thing was that they would not have to confront Red Scorpion in a place where innocent people's lives could be endangered. After Vita, Nanoha decided she would not be taking any more chances.

It felt strange for her to be put in charge of this operation. Nanoha's role in the TSAB, after all, was officially just a combat instructor. Before, the orders would come from the higher-ups above, from Carim, from Chrono and the generals on board _The Claudia..._at the very least, Hayate would have some authority upon the mission.

But now things were different. This talk of time travel was being kept restricted within the Bureau at lower-level, and all but ignored by officials of higher rank. Chrono had shown his scepticism before, but that was nothing to how the traditional patriarchal-types of Carim's Church would react if confronted with such information.

Which meant it was now up to them. And Nanoha, with Oguba in her hand, wielding a new power that defied belief; she was the one they looked up to for leadership right now. Perhaps part of the illusion was that the Bureau had started to crumble when she fell, and had gotten itself together when Nanoha recovered, but that had been nothing but a coincidence in her opinion.

Still, it had come as a pleasant surprise – if Hayate and the others wanted her to command the rescue mission, then so be it. Nanoha had already been thinking about the number of people they should take with them to rescue Vita. A small group of mages should be sufficient, of high calibre and formidable firepower.

They knew that Red Scorpion had at least four mages of their own. Hayate had argued that there could be much more – after all, what if there were a million of them on the other side? - but Oguba had testified against this. No, he said, or Red Scorpion would surely have sought to bind many more contracts with him. Three contracts alone meant that their numbers were still very low.

"Nanoha-san!"

She turned to see Subaru and Tiana waving at them as they approached from just a little further along the balcony. The two forwards had their arms linked together snugly, shoulders touching. Nanoha couldn't help noticing that the two of them were mysteriously wearing each other's shirts; either that or Subaru's sleeves had grown since she'd last seen her.

"We're going through the portal this evening, aren't we?" Subaru said excitedly. "And you're taking us too?"

"Of course you're both coming along," Nanoha said, taking Vivio off her arm and gently lowering her to the ground. Tiana knelt down to catch the little girl's hands in a high-five. "I'd be mad to leave out two of my best pupils, wouldn't I? Besides, Vita will be glad to see you two again."

"Or grumpy," Tiana remarked, and the other two laughed. "Hey," she said to Vivio, "don't worry about your Mama, okay? We won't be gone long."

"I'll try," the little girl mumbled, hugging onto her mother's leg in a clingy fashion.

"So is Erio coming too?" the sharpshooter asked with interest. "I heard he was really worried when Caro was hurt."

"It was pretty bad for her," Nanoha said sympathetically. "I'm impressed she could summon Voltaire in the state she was in. But yes, Erio will be coming with us. He says he wants to do it for Caro's sake."

Subaru grinned. "I can't believe this. We're actually going to go through time to another dimension! Is this - "

The smile died on her face when she saw Nanoha's stern expression, hand on her hip with a no-nonsense manner. Next to her, Tiana swallowed uneasily.

"You're excited about this?" Nanoha said softly. "That's wonderful. I'm glad you're full of spirit about advancing into enemy territory and rescuing Vita. Or is it that you're just thrilled at the idea of going through the time portal?" Her gaze softened as Subaru and Tiana averted their gazes to avoid hers and she pressed on. "Is this an adventure to you? A game? Because that's not what it is at all. Not when people die at the expense of others. Not when our opponents on the other side would not hesitate to kill us if they had the slightest chance. This isn't a game, you two. This isn't us embarking on a fantastic voyage to the great unknown. We're going through into a place that luckily Oguba has forewarned us about. And for that reason, it is all the more _essential_ that we be on our guard once we're out there. Do the two of you understand?"

"Yes, Nanoha-san," the two forwards sighed, their heads bowed.

"Good." Nanoha relaxed, reaching down to pick up Vivio again. "Because we can't go out there thinking it's all flowers and roses and then be up against - "

She stopped dead when she saw Vivio's face. Her daughter looked like she was about to cry.

"V-Vivio?" she stammered. "Are you all right? Did Nanoha-mama say something wro - "

She caught Subaru and Tiana looking at her sympathetically and it hit her.

_Uh-oh. Maybe I shouldn't have...maybe I shouldn't have talked like that in front of Vivio. I was talking about people dying when we go through the portal. Yes, I _definitely_ should not have talked like that in front of Vivio._

"Vivio, I didn't mean it like that!" she said hastily, wrapping the girl up in her arms protectively as she wiped her eyes with a quickly-drawn tissue. "It's okay, Vivio! Mama's not going to go away like that, I promise!"

_Fate was right. I really haven't been spending enough time around Vivio. It's true I can be a bit strict sometimes but if I only spent more time with her then I'd _know_ to act a bit more considerate when she's - _

"Vivio, don't cry!" she said desperately. "I promise it'll be okay! I'll go home early today and cook you dinner before evening. Your favourite food. And we'll eat it with Fate-mama, okay? Would you like that, Vivio?"

People everywhere were turning to stare at her, but that wasn't what bothered Nanoha right now. Her daughter was _hurt, _and it was her fault.

"Nanoha, you're so hopeless," came a familiar voice from behind her.

Startled, she half-turned as Fate took Vivio out of her arms, lifting her up just underneath her arms to rest on her shoulders. Helplessly Nanoha watched as Fate whispered soft words of reassurance and consolation to Vivio, hugging her around the waist and slowly dissipating the loneliness and sadness welling up within their daughter. Slowly but surely, Vivio began to stop crying, holding onto Fate with one hand.

_I'm a bad mother,_ Nanoha thought in despair. _I can't even comfort my own child properly?_

"You're not a bad mother," said Hayate, walking up to stand beside Fate with that quirky smile of hers. It was if she'd read the words in Nanoha's mind. "You're just not a very available one."

Nanoha's heart sank. The words didn't make her feel any better. On a day that she was forced to leave Vivio behind, even for a moment, and something like this would drive her daughter even further away from her -

"Mama," Vivio said pleadingly.

She caught her breath, realising that Vivio was no longer clinging fiercely to Fate. She was calling to her other mother, reaching out for her. Quickly, Nanoha knelt down to squeeze Vivio's hand, so that their daughter was between both of them. With both her parents by her side, Vivio seemed to be more content, although she was clearly still annoyed at Nanoha.

"I'm sorry I made you cry, Vivio," Nanoha said quietly. "I meant what I said. After today, I'm going to spend a lot more time with you."

The little girl nodded. "I know. Because you promised." She tugged at the sleeve of her other parent. "Fate-mama, Nanoha-mama said she'll cook dinner tonight."

"She did?" Fate raised an eyebrow as Nanoha's cheeks flushed a slight pink. "That's very good of her to offer." She smiled knowingly. "And is it going to be your favourite food, Vivio?"

"Yes!" Vivio beamed.

"But Nanoha-mama isn't very good at making it, is she? She burnt it last time, remember?"

Vivio's face fell, and her mouth half-opened as if she wanted to say something else. Helpfully, Fate bent down to whisper into her ear, but loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"Do you want me to help her with it?"

Their daughter brightened up again. "Yes, Fate-mama," she said proudly.

Nanoha thought she would faint from all the pressure. This was too much. Making Vivio upset, trying to comfort her, failing, having Fate rush in just in time, then doing a joint effort with Fate to console Vivio again...

"Hayate?" she asked. "How long have you been standing there?"

The leader of Riot Force 6 whistled innocently. "Oh...not long."

"How long?"

Hayate shrugged. "Five minutes. Maybe ten. Fifteen." She looked up to the sky where the sun shone down upon them. "Don't you think it's such a beautiful day to- "

"If you've been standing here that long," Nanoha persisted, lowering her voice so that Vivio couldn't hear, "then you've been watching me struggle with Vivio?"

The short-haired mage looked around in every other direction. "Maybe."

"And Fate just happens to turn up at that exact moment?" Nanoha said, folding her arms.

Hayate sighed. "You looked like you needed some help." She bent close and whispered conspiratorially, "Word of advice, Great Mother Nanoha: don't talk to Vivio about death. You _really _need to spend more time with her."

"I _am_ going to!" Nanoha said frustratedly. "I promised, didn't I? I already promised. And - "

_Wait. That was my wish to Oguba, wasn't it? My promise that I made to Vivio. Before we were attacked. Before Oguba appeared. I came home late again for the last time. I promised Vivio that I would never come home late again and would spend more time with her. And I asked Oguba to allow me to fulfil that promise. That was the reason why I lived and didn't die._

"Anyway," Hayate went on, a knowing smile coming across her lips, "that's not the whole reason I called Fate over here. You see, Fate has something to tell you."

Fate nodded absent-mindedly with a faraway look in her eyes. Then the impact of what Hayate had just said seemed to strike home, and her face went all panicky in an instant.

"W-what?" she said, wide-eyed. "Now?"

"Yes, _now._" Hayate rolled her eyes with a mixture of exasperation and adoration at how Fate was acting. "If you don't ask Nanoha now, you might not get another chance."

"I'm sorry?" Nanoha said curiously. "Ask me _what?_" Was this what Fate had been about to say to her yesterday before the meeting?

Fate smiled awkwardly and started to push herself away from the rest of them. "It's fine. I can't exactly ask at a time like this. I'll ask later when - "

Impatiently, Hayate pushed her back towards Nanoha. The blonde mage stumbled forward and stepped on someone's toes.

"Ow!"

"I'm sorry, Subaru, I didn't see your foot there...Hayate, you pushed me right onto Subaru's foot. That just wasn't very nice."

"Will you stop changing the subject?" the short-haired mage said. "You've been wanting to ask Nanoha all week and you're going to put if off again?"

"Ask me _what?_" Nanoha burst out, unable to stand it anymore. "Fate, what did you want to ask me? You can ask me anything!"

Fate looked around nervously, catching Hayate's side-glance of resignation to whatever happened next, from the confusion on Nanoha's face, to Vivio's smiling curiousity, to where Subaru was hopping from her sore foot. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth – and then appeared to change her mind.

"I'll ask you somewhere more private," she said at last.

Nanoha felt really lost. "But with all the preparations to move out through the time portal, there isn't anywhere private. It's going to be really busy and I was going to talk to Mariel about Raging Heart as well."

"I'll ask you somewhere in private," Fate said again, growing tense. "On a private part of this corridor."

"This is a very public corridor," Hayate pointed out. "Oh Fate, just tell her. It's the best time."

"It isn't. It never is the best time. I..." Fate shut her eyes and turned away for a moment, then quickly turned back again when she saw Vivio looking up at her. "I'm sorry. It's awkward now."

Nanoha shook her head and took her hands in hers softly. "Don't worry about that," she said quietly. "If there's something you need to ask me, Fate, ask me it right now. Hayate's right – we might not get the time later. Don't worry about everyone here. They're all our friends, remember? But..." She hesitated as she saw the mix of conflicting emotions in the blonde mage's eyes. _It could be something really important that she could entrust to no one else. Maybe there's a really good reason not to say it out loud with so many people here. _"Fate, if you really need a moment alone with me right now, then I can just - "

"No," her lover said suddenly, hardening her resolve and lifting her head up high again. "That doesn't matter. If I wait until we're alone, then I'll have waited too long. I can ask you right now in front of everyone."

Nanoha smiled. "Okay, whatever makes you more comfortable. So what did you want to..."

Without another word, Fate took a small square box out of her pocket, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, her lips trembling every so slightly. She thrust her hand forward and presented the box to Nanoha with hope shining in her eyes.

"Please open it," she whispered. "It's a present from me to you."

For a moment, Nanoha just looked at her in a mixture of gratitude and acceptance. It was a look which said, _You don't need to give anything to me. You don't need to give me gifts or presents. There isn't anything which you could give me which is a greater gift than being by my side with Vivio. _Besides which, she had never known Fate to get so worked up over a simple present before...

Even so, Nanoha felt a peculiar feeling rush over her as she reached over to open the box. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, increased her heart rate ever so faintly and choked her with excitement for just a moment...

She undid the clasps and opened the box to reveal – a beautiful, intricately-carved ring, set in the middle of the velvet-covered interior. The ring was embedded with a triad of three crimson gems, intertwined with a second triad of three yellow triangular-shaped gems, to merge into an infinite circle. Red gems and yellow gems. Raging Heart and Bardiche.

"F-Fate...?" Nanoha almost couldn't bring herself to speak. There...there was only one reason why Fate would give her a ring like this...

Unexpectedly, the blonde mage drew herself up and cleared her throat.

"Mariel helped craft it for me," the Enforcer said brightly. "When you wear it, a moderate amount of your magical power will be stored away as a reserve and be amplified by five times. You can use it as an emergency if you somehow run out of power. I've got the matching pair, too."

_Wait. This ring is...really just an innocent gift to help me in battle? That's really all it is? It's got nothing to do with Fate wanting to..._

"Thank you, Fate..." Nanoha couldn't quite hide the disappointment on her face. She swallowed, her heart plummeting. For a moment there she had really thought that had Fate had intended to...well, it didn't matter anymore now. She had to remember that Fate saw things from a different view, after all. "It's beautiful," she managed. "It really is. For a second there I actually thought that you were going to use the ring to propo- "

The words caught in her throat and dissipated when she saw what Fate was doing.

With a soft unspoken smile, the blonde mage had gracefully lowered herself onto one knee in front of Nanoha, her eyes closed with a faint glimmer of dampness caged between. She raised her chin up in this position and lifted her hand to take Nanoha's, opening her eyes up to gaze directly into hers.

Red and blue pupils met each other in a single moment, neither able to look away. The empty box fell from Nanoha's hands with a crash.

"Nanoha," Fate said with deep emotion, interlocking their fingers together. "Will you marry me?"

It was the first time in her life that five simple words had brought her to tears so easily.

* * *

The lights had dimmed in the TSA Engineering Division by sundown, and the laboratories had closed early to lend their support to the other squads of the Bureau. The cabinets were all sealed shut with the products of hundreds of experimental devices kept safe and secure within their doors, and the place was now all but deserted.

Deserted, that is, save for one single technician seated at the central laboratory table. There were two gems laid out in front of her – one circular and orb-like, one shaped like a diamond, and both instantly familiar to any member of the Time-Space Administration Bureau in recent years.

Mariel looked up as the automatic doors of the laboratory entrance slid open, and a tall blue-eyed mage with her brown hair stretching down in a single ponytail to her waist burst in breathlessly. She leaned over on the edge of the table, her eyes slightly red as she struggled to get her breath out.

"Nanoha-san?" Mariel asked worriedly, quickly rising to her feet. "Are you quite all right?"

Nanoha raised a hand as she panted, holding on to the table and breathing hard. "I'm fine, Mariel," she managed after a few more seconds of this. "I just ran down four flights of staircases. I know I've been keeping you, but today has just been so busy with one thing after another..."

And Fate's proposal to her had come smackbang on top of that list of things. Asking for her hand in marriage in front of everyone, including Vivio...Nanoha had scarcely been able to get the words out on the spot...

"I didn't mind waiting a bit longer," Mariel said, readjusting her glasses. Nanoha's lack of composure and red-rimmed eyes concerned her, but now wasn't the time to ask her about such things. The scientist in her was already gesturing towards the two jewels on the table, taking in their beauty and complexity, their power...she needed to tell Nanoha the details and get it over with. After all, there wasn't a lot of science involved that she could help with here.

"I'll get to the point," the researcher said. "You came here to receive the upgraded version of Raging Heart?"

Nanoha took a step forward and touched the first orb-like jewel on the table. It felt cold to the touch, but there was no doubt in her mind as to what and who it was.

"Raging Heart?" she whispered.

There was no reply.

"Initially, when you were brought back to us unconscious," Mariel explained, "Raging Heart was completely unresponsive. When I tried to perform a maintenance check on it, I received a string of error messages which demanded that parts of the Lost Logia Oguba – they had to have been components of Oguba, because no other materials would make such reference to time travel and displacement itself – be installed to its program. In other words, Raging Heart requested that it receive an upgrade from Oguba's parts itself. You remember during the Book of Darkness incident – when Raging Heart was first fitted with Velka-type instalments – a similar situation was repeated." She sighed. "I felt sure that once I had upgraded Raging Heart with Oguba's components as best as I could, then the device would be back to normal. Sadly, however..."

Nanoha closed her hand around the red gem-like device, her mind racing. If Raging Heart really was unresponsive – as in, it really wasn't working – then she would be helpless in battle. She wouldn't be able to transform, wield a weapon, initialise any of her attacks...

She refused to let this bring her down now. The rescue party was already set up and ready to leave. She was leaving in less than an hour with everyone.

"Oguba?" she said.

Instantly, Raging Heart soared to life, becoming warm within her palm. A mechanical vibrating surged through her hand and shafts of light struck out in all directions, escaping to curl around harmlessly through the air. Concealed within, the same foreign blue writing began to paint itself again and again over the device.

"_I am ready to serve you, Takamachi Nanoha,_" the voice of Raging Heart said out loud.

She relaxed and let her hand drop, releasing the orb into her inner pocket. It was going to be all right. Not exactly what she'd hoped for, but you had to do the best in the circumstances.

"What happened to Oguba's physical form?" she asked. The form of the Lost Logia herself, received into her possession through the dream-like world she had experienced.

Wordlessly, Mariel gestured to the second jewel on the table. A diamond-shaped glimmer of blue, fading into black...

"That's a Jewel Seed!" Nanoha exclaimed.

Mariel nodded. "Yuuno-kun did mention to us before how Oguba started out as a Jewel Seed before it was corrupted and was able to gain power and even a mind of its own. I went through all of Raging Heart's requests – and each and every one of Oguba's components was transferred into it. Now this is all that is left. But don't worry," she added quickly, "it can't hurt anyone. It's devoid of energy or magic at all. Everything's been sucked out of it. It's just a dead Jewel Seed, a useless chunk of matter." Her eyes narrowed curiously. "But maybe I could run tests on whether you could pour energy back _into _it...I wonder if it would work..."

"I think I see what's happened here," Nanoha said, interjecting before the scientist became lost in her own academic fascinations. "Oguba's entire self has been poured into Raging Heart. I guess it would have to be that way – Oguba probably wouldn't be able to function without all of its parts. But that means Raging Heart itself can't respond."

"I was able to try and study Oguba a little bit for you," Mariel said. "It's a mystery to all of us here, of course – but I could still make my estimates with Yuuno-kun's invaluable help. My theory is that...regarding this "contract" that Oguba has made with you...Raging Heart has also been involved. I feel that the device you hold now will function as a combination of the powers of Oguba and Raging Heart. Once the contract is fully completed, Oguba will depart your device – and Raging Heart will re-activate and be back to normal once more. Of course, you will lose the upgrade by then."

_That makes sense. After all, Raging Heart has always been a part of me. But it still disturbs me that Oguba has to take possession like this. It still feels as if Raging Heart isn't back with me yet. It's just a stranger speaking in their voice._

"As for technicalities and extra abilities and effects," Mariel continued, "I'm afraid I cannot be of much help. I am quite confident, however, that your newly upgraded device will indeed allow you to open up time portals for a limited time, as Oguba claimed. The mandatory conditions required are all in place. I also have reason to believe, Nanoha-san, that you will be well-protected from any Time-based attacks from Red Scorpion – perhaps even immune to. But I cannot tell you how to use these abilities. I spoke to Oguba for some time, and he assured me that he would help you in the matter and speak to you directly when the time came."

Vague as ever, Nanoha thought. Maybe he will. Maybe I'll walk right into the middle of Red Scorpion without a clue and suddenly Oguba's powers will come rushing into my head all of a sudden and I'll suddenly know how to reverse everything that's happened.

On the other hand, maybe not. This was not a time to be naïve and hopeful of the future. She had to be sure of what she held in her hands. She trusted in Oguba, but until he was actually able to open the time portal for her...Nanoha still had her doubts about what else he could supposedly do.

"Thanks for your help, Mariel," she said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She didn't have time to be weary or exhausted. Not when she was about to lead a team of mages into enemy territory. She resolved to get at least some rest before they went out there. "Thank you for everything you've done. I need to stay here for a while longer, so don't worry about using up any more of your time here. I'll lock up after you."

Mariel's brushed a lock of her green hair aside, looking for a moment as if she wanted to say something. Like some quiet words of consolation, to alleviate all the stress and pain that Nanoha was surely going through or...no. There were people who could say those things to Nanoha far better than she. She just had to do her own part. That was the best she could do.

"Take care out there, Nanoha-san," she said numbly, slipping out through the doors of the laboratory.

Nanoha waited until the sound of the researcher's footsteps had faded away competely, listening to the silence within the lab room. At last, she turned her back to the doors and pressed her knuckles onto the table, her eyes looking down at her feet. It hurt to think. What she had to do know more than anything was -

"Are you done yet?" Fate said pleasantly, walking into the room like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Nanoha made a spluttering sound and instinctively reached for the nearest object to bury her face in. It was a cleansing towel. She choked into it for a moment and then threw it off the table.

"Fate, how long have you been standing there?"

"Me?" The blonde mage pointed at herself questioningly with an air of innocence. "I only just came in now."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow in mild disbelief.

"I _did,_" Fate protested. "I was just walking down the stairs, and Mariel rushed past, and the only thing I said to her was, "Do you know where Nanoha is? It's _very_ important that I find her and find out if she still wants to marry me - " "

"You mean..." The combat instructor took herself away from the table and where Fate was standing against the cabinets. "You mean you didn't know? You didn't hear my answer?"

"I heard some of your answer," the Enforcer mused thoughtfully. "It's just...you weren't very coherent, and you weren't there very long."

Nanoha sighed, wrapping her arms around the other woman's neck. "I'm sorry, Fate. I just didn't know how to react." Especially when being asked in front of a corridor full of people. But she wasn't about to bring that up now, when she had been the one who'd pressed Fate into asking her right there and then. "I guess it's better if I gave you a proper answer that you deserved once we were alone, like we are now."

"I'd like that too," said Fate, smiling as she reached to bring her lover closer. "So, tell me, Nanoha? Will you marry me?"

She seemed so much more confident and at ease with herself than earlier on. It was if she didn't seem afraid of what would happen if she was refused. Her eyes were shining as she looked at Nanoha, waiting for her answer, knowing that really it wouldn't matter if her lover said no after all. _Because in the end, _Nanoha thought, _if I say no, what does it mean for us? We're still going to live together with Vivio. All it will mean is that nothing will have changed. That's all. We'll just live out lives as normal._

_ But I could never say no to this. Even if Fate hadn't given me this beautiful ring, even if we hadn't adopted Vivio as our daughter, even if we hadn't ended up where e are today...I feel as if the result would still be the same. I'm in love with her, to the point that I wanted to marry her. I could never say no to this._

"Yes," she whispered, and pressed her lips against Fate's, slipping her tongue inside her mouth to taste her as she pressed her hips with the rest of her body to push her partner against the medical cabinet. She felt Fate kissing her back, eyes half-closing in ecstasy and combing down the back of her neck to hold her tighter, closer, right next to the warmth of her heart. "My answer is yes."

Part of her in the back of her mind tried to remind Nanoha that right now wasn't the time for this, that the others were going to be assembling within the hour and would be expecting her to be there. Tiredness wasn't a problem anymore; she felt like her weariness had been erased in moments. Nevertheless, she had to be professional about this. Hesitantly, with Fate's scent in her hair and her lips against her skin, Nanoha started to pull away.

Then she felt Fate's mouth move down to her neck, teeth pulling gently at her skin where her pulse beat hot and fast just underneath. Her body responded in kind as she moaned and ran her own hand down underneath Fate's collar, feeling the buttons give way as she traced her fingers down the blonde woman's bare right shoulder. She dug down, brushing against her clothes whilst trying in vain to ignore the tongue on her neck. It was pretty difficult; Fate knew where her sensitive spot was.

In the next moment Fate had risen to kiss her again and pushed gently forward until Nanoha found herself pinned against the edge of the laboratory table behind her. She knew Fate could be dominant when she really wanted to be, but each time it always caught her by surprise. It didn't mean she didn't enjoy it, though, and Nanoha had to struggle to catch her breath when she felt the buttons of her own uniform give way underneath her lover's touch, brushing against her breasts and feeling down towards the breadth of her hips -

"W-what are you doing?" she murmured, feeling long fingers slip against the wetness between her thighs.

Fate pulled her down all the way onto the table, her skirt slipping free.

"Celebrating our engagement," she whispered, moving forward on top of her hungrily. "Whilst we still can."

Nanoha let a small gasp rise from her throat in the next second, holding Fate's head between her legs, throwing her head back in a multitude of pants and moans as her lover began to pleasure her. She gripped the side of the metal table hard, some part of her thinking that someone would see them doing this, but remembering at the same time that the lights were all out and the place was deserted. This was no way to act just before going on a mission...she had to be more...sensible...

It was too late for that now. Her mind had gone blank and she helplessly let Fate drag her down to the floor, feeling against her soft skin and lips to make love to her at her heart's desire...

* * *

Signum stood silently where she had remained for the last day and a half, in the middle of the clearing where Srethis and Ungore had taken Vita away with them through the time portal. She had barely moved from her position, her hands gripping Laevatein in its fully unsheathed form where the blade pointed down into the ground. Her eyes were closed, and her body rocked back and forth slightly on the heels of her boots as she continued to stand guard.

"I have grown a decade older waiting for you," she said, and opened her eyes suddenly, expecting to see Nanoha, Fate and Hayate standing in front of her apologetically.

Signum frowned distastefully. The sight of Subaru, Tiana and Erio was not one which filled her great motivation and determination. She respected their individual powers and abilities, but it wasn't as if any of them was going to suddenly become immensely talented in opening up time portals on the spot. The bearer of Oguba was what they needed right now: Nanoha.

"Signum-san," Erio said sympathetically, "have you been standing guard all this time?"

The Velka Knight refrained from mentioning that doing so actually wasn't that much of a strain on her body in the long-term. Drawing energy from her device and using it to increase her own endurance was a technique she had to rely on before in the past, even for survival. It was true it tired her out to a significant extent, but she did not mind doing so for Vita's sake. In truth, though, it had probably not been necessary.

"Please tell me there are more of you than this," she said. "We cannot possibly expect to rescue Vita with a group of this number."

"We're waiting for Nanoha-san and Fate-san," Subaru said quickly.

Signum nodded slowly. "And the other Velka Knights? Shamal and Zafira? Is Caro going to come along too?"

"Caro's in hospital," Erio said sadly. "Shamal is injured too, so she's staying behind to help with the restorative process with the other squads."

"I see." Signum cast a lazy eye towards the upper floors of the nearby ruin of the hospital. "So the rest of the team is just us. I think I will need to have a word with Hayate about why we aren't bringing along more people. Vita's fate relies on us." She looked towards the three forwards in front of her. As one of the tallest mages in all of the Bureau, she almost towered above them, but never as an expression of deliberate intimidation. "I missed the meeting, but do you all know what we're up against, Subaru-san, Tiana-san, Erio-san? Are you all prepared?"

The three young forwards nodded determinedly as one.

"I'll get them for what they did to Caro," Erio said fiercely.

"I've fought Grylmark twice before now," said Tiana, eyes burning bright. "No more tricks from him now."

Subaru balled one hand into a fist and punched it into the palm of her hand. "We're going to get Vita back, Signum-san. You can count on us!"

_I wish I could,_ the red-haired Guardian Knight thought inwardly. _But until we lost Vita, I thought I could count on myself as well. I failed against our enemies and I lost one of my closest friends in the world. If I can't get Vita back today, or it turns out that she is already lost to us, then I will know that I truly cannot trust in my own skills. And if I cannot count on myself...who _can_ I count on?_

She looked up sharply as Hayate appeared up ahead of the clearing, walking briskly towards them. She was cradling Vivio in her hands, and a little further behind her were Nanoha and Fate, chatting excitedly to each other. Their faces were somewhat flushed, but the stress and pain that had been apparent in Nanoha's eyes recently had dissipated. Signum wondered for a moment what might have happened, but then pushed the thought away. The most important thing for them now was what lay before them now.

"I'm sorry we're late," Nanoha said, her arm wrapped closely around Fate's. She didn't even seem to notice she was doing it. "We just had a bit of business to finish off upstairs. We're ready to go now."

The look Hayate was giving to her as she said this was truly ludicrous, as if she was trying to stop herself from laughing. With a shrug, the short-haired mage gently lowered Vivio down on to the ground. The little girl ran over to her parents at the first opportunity, speaking to them quietly in a low voice as they reached down to hug her.

"Hayate-san," Signum said, drawing herself up, "I feel greatly relieved that you are accompanying us through the portal. With your powers and abilities, success for us is guaranteed and nothing will be able to stop us. We will go through, bring Vita back, and arrest the perpetrators once and for all."

The leader of Riot Force 6 smiled awkwardly. "I'm glad you have such faith in me, Signum, but I'm not going with you. I have to stay behind, here with the TSAB."

The Velka Knight stared at her for a moment, as if not sure she had heard right.

"With respect, Hayate-san," Signum said with some difficulty, "there is no reason for you to stay behind. We need you with us on the other side to take Vita back from our enemies. Nanoha-san has told us to trust in Oguba, but I have my suspicions like many others, and if something goes wrong - "

"Signum, I would join you if I could," Hayate said with all seriousness. "But there is good reason for me to stay behind. Nanoha and Fate will need someone to take care of Vivio whilst they are gone."

"That person doesn't have to be you," Signum pointed out. "Others in the Bureau are more than capable of such a task."

"Someone also has to keep the Bureau running over here. That person is me. In my absence, Chrono might start taking actions that I may not approve of, though I know he has the best interests of the Bureau at heart."

The Velka Knight refused to be convinced. "That still doesn't mean you have to stay behind, Hayate-san. If you can't give me one concrete reason why you can't come with us, I'm not stepping through that portal."

Hayate paused for a moment. "All right. Srethis is able to impersonate me. If I don't come along, then you won't be deceived. Red Scorpion has been targeting me deliberately, especially in their first attack. It would not be a good idea for me to come along, Signum." She didn't miss the disappointment in the Velka Knight's eyes, but there was nothing she could do about it. "I'm sorry, but that's the way it's going to be."

Signum shut her eyes painfully for a moment. It was clear that she didn't like it. "Fine. And Agito? I would value having her fight alongside me."

"I sent Rein to look for her. Nobody's seen her in weeks. She's not going to reappear anytime soon, Signum." Hayate hugged the older woman around the waist, lending her as much comfort as she could. "I'm sorry," she said again. "Don't let it get to you, Signum. Nanoha and Fate will be with you. And the forwards are formidable in battle."

"I know that. I also know that Ungore almost beat me, Vita and Shamal single-handedly. We need more firepower, Hayate-san. We need more _people._"

"The portal can't transport too many people at the same time, Signum," Hayate said, hugging her tighter. "And it can't stay open for long. This is the best we can do. Everyone else we have is injured by the attacks from Red Scorpion. I could send through a squadron of low-level soldiers to support you – but they would be picked off by our enemies in seconds. Wasting lives like that is not why we're here. Signum, it'll be all right. Vita's waiting for you on the other side. You'll see."

She released her quickly and took a step back as Nanoha and Fate walked forward next to everyone. Hayate watched Signum turn away from her regretfully – she hadn't interacted with her Guardian Knights very much at all recently. And now that time was slipping away from them. First Vita was gone. If Signum went too, then this could be the last time that they spoke...no wonder Signum had wanted her to come. It wasn't just because of her abilities.

Vivio stood in front of her, watching and waving at her mothers. Hayate nodded, understanding as she wrapped her arms around the small child protectively; Nanoha and Fate must have had quite a conversation with her. Vivio understood what was going on. If all went as planned, then it would be as if nobody had ever left. No time passed within the portal.

Nanoha's eyes became serious as she turned towards the others, taking Raging Heart out of her inner pocket. Or, to be more accurate, Raging Heart with Oguba combined inside of it.

"We don't know what's on the other side, but we need to be prepared," she said. "Let's all transform now."

Fate, Signum and the rest of the forwards nodded as one, and the sounds of mage devices filled the air.

"_Mach Calibre, Set Up!"_

_ "Cross Mirage, Set Up!"_

_ "Strada! Set Up!"_

_ "Bardiche,_" Fate murmured, "_Set Up. __Lightning Form__._"

Nanoha held Raging Heart out in front of her, her arm outstretched, holding it up to the light. What if Raging Heart still refused to respond? What if this didn't work? No. Like she had said before, she refused to let that happen. But even so, she felt her resolve shift just a little.

She heard Oguba's voice in her mind then. _"Do not fear,"_ he said. _"This is not Raging Heart anymore, not whilst I remain within this device. Do not attempt to summon Raging Heart's powers. I will speak into your mind now. Speak thus my words, and brave the world with my presence."_

And she felt the words penetrate deep into her mind, rushing out of her mouth before she could even think to form the words. Words which were alien and foreign to her. Some which she could not even think to pronounce. It was as if they rushed out of her in a great stream of syllables, and with each word, she felt Raging Heart blaze brighter still, beginning to transform...

Her eyes were filled with the everburning light which shot out from the device in her hand, as she continued chanting numbingly, feeling that something was definitely wrong here, that no Lost Logia would act in the way that Oguba was right now, that the portal would not open...

She didn't even feel her body turn around and chant at the top of her voice, inaudible beneath the shrieking of the wind which accompanied the transformation. Raging Heart Excelion was clutched in her left hand, fully transformed and functioning, but at the same it wasn't the Raging Heart she knew...dark blue symbols raced across its entire length, crackling as the air sifted through it, a dark mist sweeping from its end at anything that came too close...

The roaring of the wind grew deafening as the portal before here opened wide. It stretched open wider and wider until it was no longer a simple doorway but a chasm, a giant set of jaws reaching in to ensnare its prey and devour them whole. Time rushed through in a whirling vortex, beckoning to Nanoha and her friends as they were pulled towards the yawning portal, drowning out Vivio's calls for help and Fate's cries towards Nanoha to find out just what had gone wrong.

And then her eyes snapped open, and the howling stopped, and all six mages were sucked into the time portal as one. The blackness was shut away as the portal closed after them in an instant, and all that could be heard in the clearing then was silence.

**A/N: I thought about making the love scene more explicit, but then again this isn't M-rated. But I don't know, maybe people might want it to go further. **

**The NanoFate engagement scene took ages to build up but hopefully Fate wasn't too OOC in the laboratory (like she acted a bit different than usual) but yeah. This chapter took longer than I thought, I realised I hadn't put enough interaction with Vivio either so I wrote a bit about her as well.**


	18. Land of Limbo

Exoria's eyes flicked open as she held herself in her half-crouched position.

"They are coming," she said under her breath, though loud enough for everyone else to hear in the deadened silence. "There's no mistake."

The others of the organisation paid little attention to her words. For the past day or so, ever since they had captured Vita, nobody had spoken a single word at all. Then again, time passed very differently in this plane of existence so that it could feel like a lifetime had passed without change. The Legion had remained almost motionless throughout, keeping a careful eye on both their prisoner and on Srethis – the lizard had been skulking around the crystal sculpture in which the Guardian Knight had been cage, its head bowed as it hissed at the ground. Only Ungore seemed to have any attachment at reality, and the alien spent most of its time focusing on the monstrous metal arm hanging by its other shoulder, practising at molding it and shaping it into any weapon it chose.

The lights in the sky had disappeared for good. The superior program was no longer communicating with them using the favoured method. Instead...

"We will be moving very shortly," the Legion said, drawing everyone's attention. "The Time-Administration Bureau has discovered our location and will be arriving here very soon. For the purposes of safety, I have disconnected the superior program from the mainframe and moved the Superuser to the Metaworld Sector where a second backup is in progress. The first backup program is already prepared to be initiated as soon as the Bureau sets foot on this plane."

The voice of the superior program rang out again, but not from above. This time it came as a buzz within the ears of everyone seated there.

"Until then," the superior spoke out amidst a crackle of static, "we will be using communicators. They have been set to rupture from within after half an hour – the amount of time it will take you to complete the journey to the Metaworld Sector – and so prevent potentially sensitive information being leaked to the Bureau when they arrive."

Ungore raised its head with narrowed eyes spelling out a haughty sense of resentment. "They're actually coming after us? Now?" Its long fingers scraped the ground as the robed creature reluctantly pulled itself to its feet. "Questions? Maybe, maybe someone's going to ask how they found us? Or wants to blame Ungore for this mess? Anyone?"

Exoria shot a baleful glare towards the creature but made no remark.

"There is no one to blame," the superior program said. "Our client has recently made contact with me personally and explained that the Time-Administration Bureau would come after us whether or not we had captured the Guardian Knight. This is an event that was going to happen. There was no avoiding it."

"The client came _back?_" Exoria had difficulty disguising her disgust. "After disappearing the way she did already?" She ran her fingers through her dark long hair, pulling at the strands painfully. "Did she say anything _else?_"

For a moment the superior program seemed to hesitate, then said, "The client also said that we are to keep the Guardian Knight alive. She said it would be of a great benefit to us."

Srethis had kept its head down the whole time, but upon hearing this the lizard arched its back for a second, listening intently.

"Good!" Ungore said with a fierce smile. "Then just leave her here for her companions to find. We're well rid of her."

"We cannot," the Legion countermanded, the frame of its body twisting around towards where Vita's body lay suspended within its icy prison. "Earlier on I took the precaution of checking on the physical health of our prisoner. My findings have been quite peculiar. I discovered that the Guardian Knight Vita is not in a well-enough state of living at all. In fact..." The Legion's eyes may have been mechanical, but there was no mistaking the icy finality which loomed within them right now. "I would go far enough to say that she is on her deathbed."

_"What?_"

The Legion's eyes shifted towards Ungore. "I have a precise record of the situation in which you, Ungore, took the initiative to rescue Srethis from the Bureau. You opened a time portal into a hospital – the hospital, no doubt, in which Vita was recovering from a sickness. A sickness, in fact, which is common to one of our number here."

For a few moments the others of the organisation just stared at the Legion in bewilderment, not understanding. Then the impact of its words hit them – hard.

"Sickness?" Srethis croaked. "You are saying, Legion, that Vita here has _Srethis' sickness?_"

"Impossible," Ungore spat. "She looks fine to me. She's encased in ice, Legion. You're losing it. There's nothing wrong with her!"

The Legion turned away from the alien, expressionless. "When she wakes up, you will soon see that my diagnosis is correct. Her vital signs are deteriorating. She is dying from the inside. You will forgive me, Ungore – I took the measure of borrowing some of your medicine to aid her whilst you were inattentive earlier."

"You _what?"_

"If I had not, she would be dead already. I was able to link it through to her magic field and break the formula down without affecting the ice that traps her inside. No doubt you will be able to communicate with her using the same method when she wakes up."

"She's going to wake up?" Exoria said in disbelief. "_Here? _We don't _want_ her to wake up! Is this going to happen any time _soon?"_

"Yes. Seven minutes from now." The Legion's voice had returned to its cold and logical state, concerned only with the statistics. "The facts are irrefutable. She has the same illness as Srethis does, and so she will die without the medicine that only Ungore can provide. If we leave her here, then the Bureau will take her back and she will perish at the hands of her incapable allies. We have no choice but to take her with us to the Metaworld Sector."

"We must leave now," the superior program said sharply. "The Bureau have succeeded in opening a time portal here. The client warned me that such an event would happen, and so I ordered Exoria to introduce a significant delay into where the wormhole could coincide with its destination. If the Bureau attempts to pursue us, they will be re-directed into a separate level of this plane of existence. They will still be contained within this world, but..."

"But it will take them a few hours for them to reach where we really are," Exoria nodded, understanding. "There's just one flaw in your plan. There is no portal that leads to the Metaworld Sector any more."

It was true. The Metaworld Sector was a safe haven beyond the time-restricting limbo of their current location, and served as a much more convenient base for their operations. Here, time was condensed so that magic was hard to manipulate – at least at the surface, anyway. You couldn't even fly here.

But there was no portal leading outside. A portal to Mid-Childa or to one of the other many worlds was simply done. But a portal to Metaworld...it required a lot of proficiency and magical ability to craft a wormhole within another wormhole. The only reason that the superior program was able to exist from inside the Metaworld itself was because her core had been transferred there at the very beginning. Back when this had all started, when Red Scorpion was first created.

"Correct," the superior said. "That is why, Exoria, we need to make a portal first."

"_Make_ one?" She couldn't imagine Ungore capable of such a thing. The little cretin could barely make a normal portal. "Ungore could never - "

"Again, correct. Ungore is not going to be making the portal. You are, Exoria."

_"Me?_" she spluttered, almost choking over the mere notion. "A portal into _Metaworld? _You can't be serious! Do you know how much time and magical power will have to go into such a feat? I'll be drained! Shredded! Lifeless!"

"And if you do not, and the Bureau catch up to you," the Legion intoned, "you will also be dead. Our superior has chosen you – no, Oguba has chosen you. You are the most talented among us with Oguba's power. The power to create a portal to the Metaworld is well within your scope as a mage. It will not be enough to open up a normal portal to one of the many worlds out there. If the Bureau can open up one of our portals, they can open up a thousand. They will follow us. But a portal to the Metaworld is very different; they will never be able to follow us there. We will be able to continue our operations in safety. And the safety of the organisation is crucial to all."

"You shut up!" Exoria yelled at the creature. "You're just a mindless slave of the organisation! You never took on Oguba's powers, you do not _know_ how much energy is required here! If this backfires, it could take all of us with it! You call _me_ crazy and then take light of time travel in _this_ - "

The superior program wasn't listening. The Legion wasn't listening. Srethis had stopped listening a long time ago. No one was listening to her. She felt tears of frustration seep out of the corner of her eyes, and her hands curled into claws, ripping at the dirt at her feet. They didn't know, she told herself, they didn't know just _how - _

Ungore yawned nonchalantly. "You'll live."

"Our plan is clear," the superior announced, cutting off Exoria's prolonged cries. "Exoria will need as much time as possible to set up the portal. She will be the first to go, for preparations. Ungore and Srethis, you will escort the prisoner with you and prevent her from escaping. As much as it pains me to do so, we are forced to take her with us. The client made it quite clear to me that the Guardian Knight Vita is to be kept alive. Though I cannot pretend to understand her reasons, we must follow through with them. Our contract is still not yet at an end. And, my Legion...you will take the defence. Stay at the rear of our group and prevent anything or anyone coming through."

"We will be a few hours ahead of them," the Legion said. "They cannot use their magic properly on the surface. It will be impossible for any of the Bureau to catch up with us. It will only take us half an hour to reach the portal and gain passage to the Metaworld. Success is assured."

_"If_ there's even a portal when you get there," Exoria muttered under her breath venomously. She could tell that nobody was listening to her, however.

Ungore sighed and stretched to its full and considerable height. The dead arm did not move, of course. "Question," it said out loud.

"Yes?"

"Grylmark. He hasn't bothered to turn up, as I'm sure you've noticed. Again. We going to leave him here?"

The superior program's voice was silent for a moment.

"I have spoken to our client about Grylmark's behaviour," she said at last. "She has told us that we should trust him. However, his lack of attendance and insufficient capacity for trust are not merits that we value highly..."

Ungore waited patiently, drumming their fingers of their one hand upon their other dead arm.

"Very well," the superior said reluctantly. "We cannot stand for this anymore. If we come across Grylmark on our way to the Metaworld Sector portal, we will relay this message to him: he is no longer a part of our organisation. We will not attack him unless he is directly hostile to us, but he is no longer our ally. Trust is extremely important among our organisation. If we cannot trust, then we cannot ensure success."

"Good," Ungore said with a sinister grin forming across its face underneath the hood. "I just can't wait to tell him." He twisted his other arm round in its socket experimentally, then wound it back again. "Now let's get out of this place already."

* * *

Nanoha felt hard ground pushing back against the hilt of Raging Heart as she lowered the device downwards for support. Although the blackness and screaming from before had dissipated, the after-effects would remain for some time. The rocks beneath her feet served as a foundation to keep her energy grounded as the tide of savage vibrations surging through her hands and feet began to slowly fade away. A consequence of using Oguba's magic, she had assumed between gritted teeth at the epicentre of the vortex, but the process had still seemed very...different from what she had expected...

"What just happened?" Subaru said weakly, rising to her feet where she had fallen a short distance away. "Where are we?"

Quickly, Nanoha took a headcount as the others around her stirred woozily, slowly getting to their feet. If anyone had been left behind, or even if Hayate and Vivio had been taken through with them, she would not be able to forgive herself. If Red Scorpion had been waiting for them right here with weapons drawn and claws unfurled, they would all have been wiped out in an instant. She wouldn't have been able to prevent that, and the thought of that ate away at her confidence as she mulled it over in her own uncomfortable silence.

However, she could see now that everything appeared to be fine with their party. Fate, Signum, Subaru, Tiana and Erio – everyone had made it through. Somehow. Minimal injuries and very superficial bruising, but nothing a mage of the Time-Administration Bureau couldn't handle.

Raging Heart – or perhaps more accurately, Oguba – was smoking slightly at the edges, a scythe of black mist curving around its length. There was no mistaking that there had been something wrong with how the portal had opened. Signum had witnessed how Ungore had opened a portal before – nothing of this nature had happened. You simply cast the appropriate spell, and the portal would respond to your command. Not the method of Oguba possessing Nanoha's body and chanting high and loud as the power around them rose to a critical level, as if summoning dark forces before them. What was going on?

_"You may be disorientated from your journey through the portal,"_ Oguba said through Raging Heart in a static tone. _"You have my assurances that when I re-open the portal again for your return, it will not be so chaotic."_

"You're saying we have to go through that again?" Tiana asked, holding her head numbly just behind her pigtails. "I don't think this is how Red Scorpion travel through time..."

Signum shook her head disapprovingly. "I am not enthusiastic about undergoing such a journey again. We could have been killed."

"And I don't remember Hayate and Rein mentioning about any of this when Exoria took them back to the past last time," Fate said, her voice lined with her own suspicions. "This all felt extremely...unstable."

_"You are no longer in any danger,"_ Oguba said, with calm insistence. _"Exoria and Ungore have had the benefit of practise, training and a significant quantity of time available to them in which they have been able to perfect their techniques. Their contracts with me are complete. They are able to use my power without such hassle. However, I released my magic through Raging Heart and so a conflict did arise. When the portal opened, I was not able to focus my powers sufficiently to prevent you all from being sucked in forcibly."_

"You could have warned us about this," Nanoha said, fanning Raging Heart rather flamboyantly in an effort to stop smoke from coming out of the other end. The device almost looked as if it were on the verge of combusting on the spot. "There is no point in us locating Vita only to end up perishing in the process."

"And what about those words that you made Nanoha-san say?" Erio protested. "What kind of spell was _that_ supposed to be? It was longer than one of Caro's summoning spells..."

The Lost Logia suddenly seemed to tire of the constant questioning. Its tone began snappy, brisk and impatient, despite the medium through which it was speaking, catching the others by surprise.

_"Enough of this,"_ Oguba said sharply. _"I have brought you through the time portal to the land of limbo where Red Scorpion resides. You stand upon the surface of a plane of existence in which time energy is constantly being swallowed up and devoured, whilst simultaneously being replenished from countless portals in the known universe. With every force occurring through time, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Equilibrium is maintained. This is one of the most important laws of the universe, and space and time are no exception._

_ "The world you stand upon now is one which you must tread upon with extreme caution. With the compression of time energy, you will find that your magic is limited and contained upon the surface. If you go deeper within, you may find holes and gaps in time through which energy is consumed and drained away. If you are lost within such gaps, you will be lost within time infinitely; time energy will be devoured from yourselves and your existence will be removed from the history of your world in its entirety." _Oguba's words brought alarm and mild fear to the rest of the rescue party as they gathered around Raging Heart to hear more closely. _"That is why I advise you all to tread with the greatest of caution. With one step, you could be lost forever, and those that knew you would never notice the difference. They would not remember you, taken from their lives."_

For a moment, there was troubled silence amongst the group at hearing this. There was more at risk in this strange world, where life and death could so easily spiral away into the difference between survival and being removed from history forever. Signum, however, seemed unperturbed, shrugging off the warnings as if they were nothing.

"We knew the risks of coming here," she said, Laevatein's blade unsheathed at her waist. "Of course we'll have to keep our guard up. Vita's life depends on our actions from here on out."

Nanoha paid close attention to how the other forwards had acted to Oguba's words. They seemed fearful, certainly, but they were no longer rookies. She needed to be able to depend on each of them, and if anyone panicked later at the worst of times then it was important that she know who was dependable and who wasn't. But she need not have worried about them – after all, each of them had proved themselves time and time again, both to the Time-Administration Bureau and to herself. The fact that Vita was involved also made this a personal matter for each of them.

"All right, then," she said. "Let's take a look at our bearings."

If she had to be honest, however, there wasn't much to look at. The scene in front of them was that of a wasteland - a dead planet where nothing grew, nothing thrived, nothing existed. The ground they walked on was hard and barren, extending off into the distance for miles and miles as far as the eye could see. A world of limbo, Oguba had called it. Nanoha kept an eye out for any of these holes in time that Oguba had warned them about, but as far as she could see everything just looked perfectly normal. That is, a perfectly normal barren wasteland where nothing had grown for a long, long time.

And yet...there was evidence of more than that. She could see glimpses of what looked like ruins in the distance – twisted pieces of broken structures, melded together with alien-like materials as they gradually crumbled apart and wasted away through time. The evidence of civilisation. Man-made facilities, no longer used, no longer lived in.

Without taking a single step, Nanoha could tell that people had lived on this world once. In a land where time was devouring the environment. If there was one building, there would be more, many more. And Red Scorpion could be hiding in any of them, waiting for them, lining the place with traps...

"It'll take us forever to scout out this place," Tiana said nervously, staring out over the bleak landscape.

There was no sun shining in the sky to guide their way; the only light that came was from the twilight glow which surrounded the entire plane, blanketing the world from above. There was a very unnatural and artificial feel to it. The whole place felt engineered for a sole purpose, like an experiment in a laboratory or another piece of machinery on the workbench.

Nanoha raised Raging Heart upright in her right hand. Though it was fundamentally Oguba inside her device now, the magic she had at her disposal was undeniably her own.

"_Wide Area Search__," _she commanded.

What she expected to happen was for Raging Heart to send out tracking probes in each direction to scour the area. What she did _not_ expected to happen, and which irrevocably did happen right then, was for her vision to be altered completely in that one moment. She felt the black mist inside her device flowing into her, tapping into her mind and changing the way she saw the environment around them. The blue alien symbols spread out across her skin, flickering across her body at lightning-speed, barely perceivable -

In the blink of an eye, she felt herself change. She was no longer a mage of Riot Force 6, but a force ascended; she was a deity watching over the ruined landscape with a thousand eyes at every corner, every single minute detail maximised into definition for her perusal. The entire world was laid bare to her eye. At every point of the land she could detect the imprint of a living creature and calculate how long ago it had been there, who it had been made by, here the tracks would lead...the world before her was hers alone. Hers to watch over. Hers to rule and enforce her own laws, so never again would anyone become like -

"Nanoha?"

The godlike vision in front of her disappeared in a flash as the mist withdrew from her fingertips, hissing at the sound of Fate's voice. Dazed, Nanoha shook her head, trying to clear her mind. For a moment...she had been a part of something colossal and much, much greater than herself...

"Nanoha?" Fate said again, laying a hand on her elbow, concerned. "You've been standing like that for ages."

Angrily, the combat instructor turned Raging Heart to face her. She didn't like being used like this.

"What did you just do to me, Oguba?" she said testily. "Raging Heart didn't respond. _You_ did."

_"That is true,"_ the Lost Logia replied. _"The spell you requested of Raging Heart was one which I could carry out much more concisely. I have amplified the power of the spell to transmit directly to your mind the information requested: a map of this entire world. Human minds, however, are severely limited and so I was only able to give to you a map of the surrounding region - "_

"I never said you could do that! You said nothing about connecting directly to my mind like that!"

_"Regardless,"_ Oguba pressed on ceaselessly, _"you now have the information you seek. There are scores of ruins dotted across the landscape, but bereft of life at each point. There is, however, a great surge of magical power erupting from the north-east which I would advise only the most powerful of your mages to investigate. Secondly, there is a powerful life-source directly to the east, within the nearest ruins. I believe it is there where you should start your search for - "_

"I'll tell them, thank you," Nanoha said irritably, lowering Raging Heart against the dead soil once more. She couldn't help but feel disturbed at how Oguba was handling his new seat of power in the party. He had only supposed to be there to help them open the portal, and now he had taken over Raging Heart's operation completely, changed her spells, and was giving out advice to the rest of the group? What was the meaning of this? This was not how a Lost Logia should act, not a being with no emotion and only simple programming.

"Just as Oguba said," she said to the others, suppressing the urge to glare at the Lost Logia, "there are definite signs of life to the east. But they are faint – it seems there are only one or two individuals there at most. If Vita's there, you all need to be prepared."

The forwards nodded, each of them eager to set out and be the first to sight the first signs of action. There was still a tingle of excitement in the air, despite the initial atmospheric tension, and Nanoha didn't see why she should disrupt it. An alien world, a new region full of surprises and dangers at every corner – it would be normal for Subaru or the others to want to get started immediately.

"And the surge of power to the north-east?" Signum queried, not missing anything. "Who will be investigating that?"

Nanoha met her eyes. "I will."

Before anyone else could protest, she went on, "Red Scorpion would not focus all of their manpower at one single point. They are working from a set location, and if we can hit them at their core, then they should fall apart easily from there. This surge of power seems to be a good sign of where this central power is located.

"However, when I saw the landscape through Oguba's magic, I felt something very familiar...something very similar to Oguba, in fact. As if Oguba's magic is being drawn directly towards it. And that's why I'm going to be the one to check it out."

She looked expectantly towards Fate, Signum, and the three forwards. "Our main objective is to get Vita back. So I want the rest of you to head over to the ruins to check for the life-signs that Oguba detected. If there's any resistance from Red Scorpion, don't hesitate to use force." Nanoha turned her gaze towards the north-east – as she pointed Raging Heart in that direction, she could feel a slightly pull at the mist that surrounded her device. There was definitely something there. "I'll investigate the power surge. As soon I'm able to, I'll rejoin the rest of you."

"Sounds like a plan," Signum said with a shrug. "But do you really intend on going there alone?"

Fate smiled. "Nanoha won't be alone."

"Exactly," Nanoha agreed, "because I'll be accompanied by Raging Hea - "

She stopped in mid-sentence and stared at the blonde mage for a moment. Her new fianceé, at that. Did she really mean...?

"Fate - "

"You really thought I was going to leave you to run into dangerous territory by yourself, Nanoha?" the Enforcer asked kindly. "With no one to look out for you?"

Nanoha flushed slightly at the edges of her cheeks. "I can look out for myself."

"Can you really?...Signum, you and the others had better get going. Nanoha and I will catch up with you later." Fate brushed the edges of her fingertips against Nanoha's arm. It was a very slight movement, but her touch sent a tingling against the other woman's skin, and she winced, trying not to let it show. "Good luck, everyone."

Signum bowed her head as she turned to leave. "And to you as well, Fate-san."

Within a matter of seconds, Signum and the other forwards had set off to the eastern ruins to begin their search for Vita, leaving the other two mages behind at the site of the closed portal. Swallowing, Nanoha turned to the other woman to say exactly what was on her mind, but she didn't get the chance.

"W-what are you doing?" she protested as Fate linked arms with her tightly and pulled her along with her at a brisk walking pace.

"We're going to investigate the surge of power, of course," the blonde mage said in an obvious tone of voice. "Together."

Nanoha drew herself up and managed to muster some kind of defence as she was propelled forward in a half-stumbling fashion. "Fate, you don't have to come with me! Oguba's power is attracting Raging Heart to the source. That's why only I can do this! That's why I was going to ask you to go along with Signum and the others to - "

Fate stopped suddenly in mid-step and pushed her mouth onto Nanoha's in a hard kiss which melted onto her lips within a few seconds. She slowly pulled away, tasting her lover as she dragged the seconds out, sucking slightly at the edges of her mouth and savouring the last vestiges of her saliva. Nanoha gasped for breath, caught unawares by the suddenness of the kiss.

"Number one: you don't have to let all of your decisions be made by a Lost Logia which doesn't know any better," Fate said quietly. "And number two: I _do_ have to come with you. I want to do this with you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. So shall we get moving?"

* * *

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Erio asked.

The four of them had been walking nearly ten minutes towards the faint life source as directed. So far, there had been no sign of the ruins or anything at all – nothing but the broad expanse of the wasteland around them, stretching out as far as they could see. Yet they could sense too that they were not alone. The presence of another living being was quite detectable by all of them by now. Faint traces of magic lay in the air, whispers that laid a trail for them to follow. It didn't feel like Vita, but it was a start.

"Nanoha-san and Fate-san?" Signam said lightly. "Of course. They'll be fine with each other."

"Will _we_ be okay?" the young mage said uneasily.

Subaru and Tiana looked at the red-haired boy doubtfully for a moment. Was Erio losing faith in their skills? Was he saying that they might not possess the power to take down any members of Red Scorpion that they encountered?

"I mean to say that if Nanoha gets hurt, or if we somehow lose her," Erio explained, "then Oguba isn't going to be with us anymore. Which means we won't be able to open up another portal. Which means we won't be able to get home, and we'll be stuck here."

"Erio, I don't think that's going to happen," Tiana said in a reassuring tone. "Nanoha isn't going to be defeated out here no matter what she faces. Not with time travel and a Lost Logia on her side. If anything goes wrong, she can surely use Oguba to find out where we are."

"Our opponents have time travel on their side as well," Erio pointed out worriedly. "And they seem to be better at using it."

Signum sighed. "There really is no cause for worry, Erio-san. Chances are that we won't even find Red Scorpion here. It would be very easy for them to just use a time portal to escape to somewhere else, and we would have very limited means of tracking them. But if Vita's alive then they would probably just leave her here for us. It's not like there's anyone around here anymore."

_If_ Vita was still alive. The thought had preyed on her conscience but all things considered, Signum knew they had to be optimistic. And realistic, when the situation took a turn for the worst later. She really hoped it didn't come to that. But still, it was not easy to kill a member of the Wolkenritter – they were still living magical programs rather than humans, and Signum even hoped that Red Scorpion had lacked the means to kill Vita and left her here instead...

"Wait!"

The voice was Tiana's. She held her hand up quickly, poised in a crouched position. Just ahead of them, the landscape had given rise to a mound upon which stood a set of stone pillars, crumbling and falling apart on the spot. They were still within a hundred yards from their position, but they could see that the pillars had been built around a raised platform, on the top of a set of several steps, rising up above them.

Could this be the ruins that Nanoha had told them about? The source of the life signs that would be their first clue on this mission? A twinkling light winked out at them from within the darkness before them, but it could just be the reflection of the glow around them upon glass...

"It looks like an altar," Subaru whispered, as they all dropped down quickly to huddle underneath the small hill.

"It would be an excellent position to defend from," the Velka Knight mused. "From the top of those steps you would be able to see your enemies from many miles away. We should not rush in. "

"I can feel it now," Erio said excitedly. "The magical field. It's coming from right within those ruins!"

Slowly, the four of them made their way across the ground towards the ruins of the altar. The sparkling light at the top of the steps began to grow brighter and more pronounced as they approached it. As they came closer, the group came upon clumps of shattered rock laid out around the altar in a circle, as if from the remains of a building from many generations ago. The ruins looked like they would collapse as soon as you tried to touch them.

Strangely, although they were almost on top of the ruins by now, the magical field coming from the life source was still just as faint as ever, as if they had come no closer towards it. Tiana felt a strange familiarity coming from the ruins which made her uneasy, but she could see that the others were keen to press on and investigate. Maybe it was nothing. She shrugged off the feeling and stood with the others just inches away from the strange circle of stones.

There are had been no sign of attack and the life source had still felt as distant as ever. Hesitantly, the four of them stood in open view, mindful that anyone in the area had still not detected them. Nothing happened, and they began to relax a little.

And then they saw it. They saw what was causing the sparkling light from the top of the altar. It was the reflection of light upon crystal – beautifully-crafted shining alone on a pedestal within the pillars, suspended by magic and floating in mid-air where a ring of mystical lights kept it locked securely into place -

Crystalline ice. A giant block of ice caged between the pillars, containing a wide-eyed living creature inside, a small girl with fiery red eyes, beating helplessly at the prison that held her -

"VITA!"

"Help me!" Vita cried, hitting the ice from inside with growing desperation. She was in her civilian form and it was likely that she was unable to transform. "Get me out of here!"

Heedless of danger, Subaru and Erio rushed forward to help. The life source they had been searching for had been Vita, trapped in the ice, and with no other signs of life in the area it was safe to say that there were no enemies lurking in the darkness. The two forwards raised their weapons high above their head, ready to use all power at their disposal to smash the ice apart.

Tiana realised that although her immediate instinct had been to help Vita, something had held her back, stopped her from moving a single step forward. Nothing sinister or magical...but her sixth sense, telling her that something was out of place here...

"Help?" Signum repeated, drawing Laevatein out in front her, her face cold as steel. She took a step towards the altar, her hands gripping the hilt of her weapon so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. "Help you?"

Illusion magic, Tiana thought. Now she knew the familiarity of the life source. That was it. Usually she sensed it immediately, but someone had come here in advance and wrapped it up with a combination of other spells which had...no, wait...

"Signum, what are you doing?" Subaru said in alarm.

"Step away, Subaru." The Velka Knight stalked towards the top of the steps, her face brimming with fury. "I am insulted that the likes of Red Scorpion would think to use Vita like this against me. It is obvious they do not know much of the Wolkenritter."

"Signum?" Vita's voice cried out from within the icy prison. "It's me, Vita. Are you going to get me out of here? Help me - "

The pink-haired Velka Knight raised the sword horizontally in a unique fighting stance, eyes narrowed. "One thing you should know about Vita, if you know her at all," she breathed, "is that Vita does not ask for help. She wouldn't plead for us to release her. I think very little of your illusionist' skills, Red Scorpion..."

Warning bells rang in the back of Tiana's mind as Signum whirled the sword around her head. The illusion magic was detectable, but something else...something which had been bugging her ever since they had sighted the altar. The life-source? She attempted to track onto it right then and realised with horror...that it was burning, blazing in front of her...

"Signum, _NO!_" she shouted.

It was too late. Laevatein came down and shattered the ice in a single blow. The image of Vita inside flickered once, crackled as electricity through her, and then turned into the rotting skull of a long-dead corpse, a sacrifice upon the altar.

And then blazing beams of fiery energy shot between the pillars from every angle, criss-crossing into an infernal matrix which screamed down the steps of the altar, roaring across the length and scale of the ruins into an impenetrable web which curved all the way down into the hard barren earth, stopping just a few inches in front of Tiana's foot.

Signum, Subaru and Erio froze as the fiery web revolved slowly around them, caging them into the centre of the altar. Angrily, Signum kicked the remains of the ice crystal aside and attempted to strike out at the beams of energy flooding across the web, but to no avail. Her weapon almost bent from the backlash, despite it being composed of fire as well.

A trap. The illusion of Vita had been a trap to lure them into the web of fire. Desperately, Tiana fired Cross Mirage several times at the cage, but each time her shots were deflected away by the beams of energy, sucking up the magic in her bullets and absorbing them completely. In fact, her shots were strengthening the prison. Helpessly, she watched as her friends darted about frantically inside their claustrophobic position, trying to find some way to get out.

"Tiana!" Subaru called out, wide-eyed. "Are you okay? You didn't get caught inside?"

"I'm fine!" she yelled back. If something like this had happened a year ago, she would have found herself panicking. But not this time. "Don't worry! I'm going to try and get you all out of here!"

"You will not," said a voice from just ahead of her. A voice she recognised.

She turned to her right to see the tall, pale form of Grylmark the Third stalking towards her. His body was bathed in a red magical field, the same magic which coated the fiery web around the altar. _Grylmark._ He had been the life-sign that they had sensed. Not Vita. No, Vita probably wasn't anywhere near this place...

Grylmark's features twisted into a thin smile as he flexed the muscles of his left hand. For a moment, the energy beams trapping Signum and the others grew more concentrated, glowing with a brighter fire as he increased the amount of power surging through them.

"I was looking forward to seeing you again," he said maliciously, "Tiana Lanstar."

**A/N: Expect the fights to be starting from the next chapter onwards.**


End file.
